Engines
Criticism Spurs Pratt to Drive Down F135 Costs
U.S. government investigations highlight cost and reliability issues with the F-35 powerplant.
Pratt & Whitney is under pressure to reduce the cost of the F-35 fighter’s F135 engine.
Pratt & Whitney is under pressure to reduce the cost of the F-35 fighter’s F135 engine.

While the F-35 fighter’s prime contractor Lockheed Martin touts the “blueprint for affordability” that since last year has helped it shave costs from its manufacturing processes, engine supplier Pratt & Whitney has waged its own “war on cost” since 2009. From the time it built the sixth flight-test powerplant to those it is producing today, the engine manufacturer claims to have reduced the cost of the F135 turbofan by 55 percent.