Rolls-Royce and G.E. Offer to Cut Price to Build Alternate F-35 EnginesMay 07, 2010

 

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Despite Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ continued insistence that the Pentagon does not need to develop a second Joint Strike Fighter engine, Rolls-Royce and General Electric have once again offered to cut their price to build an alternative engine, according to an article in The New York Times.

The companies, which in partnership want to develop the engine, offered to build up to 150 engines at fixed prices, saying it could save the U.S. government as much as $1 billion if Pratt & Whitney, the primary engine builder, agrees to match the price.

The Joint Strike Fighter, a stealth jet also known as the F-35, is the Pentagon's largest program, according to the article, with the engines accounting for about $100 billion of the $328 billion total the department expects to spend for 2,400 planes. The jets will be used by several services like the Air Force, the Navy and the Marines.

The Pentagon has repeatedly said it cannot afford to develop and build a second engine and it would recommend that the president veto any legislation to fund it. But Congress has pushed back and blocked efforts to cancel a second engine program, fearing that it would hand Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technology, a monopoly.

Without such a monopoly, the government could save up to $20 billion over the next 30 years, according to GE, Rolls-Royce and other congressional supporters. Having another model engine would also provide a buffer if any structural issues arise with the Pratt & Whitney version, according to these parties.

But Gates and other officials, the article noted, maintain that developing and building a second version of the engine might amount to wasteful duplication. The Pentagon believes that it could cost about $2.9 billion over six years for a second engine, including the need to build the tooling to produce the engines.

The Pentagon's response to the latest GE/Rolls-Royce offer was an unequivocal no. Gates "does not believe the J.S.F. needs an extra engine. Period," a Pentagon spokesman told the Times.

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II inflight at sunset (Lockheed Martin photo (RELEASED))