Congress buys F136 time

Published: Mar 28, 2006
Source: www.flightglobal.com



US Congress could provide a year's reprieve for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) alternative engine programme, but the threat of cancellation will not be lifted from the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 unless supporters can convince the Pentagon and sceptical lawmakers that competition will reduce cost and improve reliability.

While fighter engine competitions worked well in the past, opponents of developing the F136 as an alternative to Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engine argue advances in technology over the past 30 years have removed the justification of hedging against an engine problem that could ground the entire JSF fleet.

“All of our analysis shows that we never recover the costs of this programme,” deputy defence secretary Gordon England told a special Congressional hearing in mid-March. He was defending the Department of Defense’s decision to cancel the F136 just six months after awarding the GE/R-R team a $2.4 billion development contract.continue..