Pratt & Whitney’s $66 Billion F-35 Engine Program Under Review
- Pentagon auditing whether subcontractor prices are coming down
- Engine-maker reported 3% savings in new contracts over prior
An F-35 Lightning II fighter jet.
Photographer: Johnny Saldivar/U.S. Air ForceThis article is for subscribers only.
The Pentagon’s audit agency is digging into cost and pricing data for F-35 engines to determine why United Technology Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney unit isn’t extracting more savings from subcontractors on their share of the biggest U.S. weapons program.
As the sole provider of engines for the F-35, the company and its subcontractors are in line to collect as much as $66 billion of a projected $428 billion in acquisition costs for more than 3,000 of the fighter jets being built for the U.S. and its allies.