Pratt & Whitney has delivered the first F135 production-standard short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) engine to Lockheed Martin for the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter program. The engine manufacturer plans to deliver another 18 STOVL engines next year. Any further design changes will likely be limited to “mostly software tweaks,” a P&W representative told AIN. Meanwhile, the U.S. Marine Corps has bowed to the inevitable and abandoned the December 2012 target date for initial operating capability of the F-35B. It has not announced a revised date.
The General Electric/Rolls-Royce team continues to tout the alternative F-136 engine for the F35 as a better performer for less money. Contrary to the Pentagon’s urgings, the U.S. Senate last week passed a FY2011 defense funding bill that retained funding for F136 development. A GE spokesman told AIN that company engineers have designed a better engine because they began developing the powerplant when the aircraft was more mature.
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