First JSF Flight-Test Engine To Be Completed In Weeks

Posted on: Nov. 8th, 2005 || Source: aviationweek.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

Pratt & Whitney is weeks away from completing the first flight-test engine for the U.S. Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, according to a company spokesman.

Work on the major pieces of the F135 engine is "well under way," and Pratt & Whitney expects to finish assembly near the end of November, company spokesman Matthew Perra told The DAILY in a recent e-mailed response to questions. Pratt & Whitney began building the system in August in Middletown, Conn. (DAILY, Aug. 24).

Once completed, the engine will undergo about two weeks of ground tests before being delivered to JSF prime contractor Lockheed Martin in December. The engine will be installed in A-1, the first flight-test jet, in February at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth, Texas, plant.

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