Pratt & Whitney Prepares to Begin Detailed Design of F135 Engine Upgrade for F-35 Fifth-Generation Fighters – Power Plant Will Save Money$40 billion

Pratt & Whitney Completes Preliminary Design Review (PDR) of F135 Engine Upgrades for

fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighters.Early next year, the company plans toBegin the detailed design phase of the Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) program.

What is known

Pratt & Whitney is doing everything to meet the schedule.In particular, the company increased the number of employees from 200 to 500 people in order to implement the projectF135 ECU on time.

Pratt & Whitney must also prove that the program is risk-taking and mature enough to move to the design phase.

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With the F135 ECU design, the powertrain will have everything it needs to support the additional capabilities that will come with the Block 4 upgrade.This was stated by Jill Albertelli, president of Pratt & Whitney's military engines division.

PDR is funded by a $115 million contract that was awarded in December 2022.Pratt & Whitney is also using additional funding allocated for fiscal year 2023.

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F135 ECU is the fastest, cheapest and leasta risky way to prepare a jet engine for the Block 4 upgrade. The power plant will be installed in all F-35 modifications and will save $ 40 billion over the life cycle.