GE fights for share of jet engine deal

LYNN – GE is fighting in Congress to secure a portion of the engine contract for the Joint Strike Fighter, also known as the F-35 Lightning II, the most advanced warplane in production.Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney has already won the primary engine-building deal, but GE in tandem with Rolls-Royce proposed manufacturing an alternative engine for the same aircraft.GE has reasoned that an alternative engine would ensure an adequate stockpile in the event of a work stoppage or increased wartime demand, while giving the Pentagon the best price since competition would prevent a monopoly.”Over time, the Pentagon would save money from the competition,” said GE spokesman Rick Kennedy in Evendale, Ohio, where GE operates a major aircraft engine production plant.Following President Barack Obama’s lead to cut military spending, the Senate has given the GE plan a cold reception, but the company seems determined to get its share of the contract by tapping into key legislative conferencing committees set to convene in two weeks.”We secured overwhelming support for the alternative engine in the House, with a vote of 400 to 30,” Kennedy said. “The Senate was less responsive.”The Joint Strike Fighter alternative engine – dubbed the F136 at GE – is critical to the company’s military product line as a whole and to the River Works aircraft engine facility in Lynn where some of the engines presumably would be constructed.The River Works currently produces the T700 engine for military attack helicopters and the F414 engine for the F/A-18 Hornet fighter plane. The Joint Strike Fighter is designed to replace the F/A-18, which means the demand for the F414 engine will be dramatically reduced.Richard Gorham, a spo-kesman for GE in Lynn, said the U.S. Navy contract for F414 jet engines will run out in three years. “The F414 is going to wrap up from a U.S. Navy standpoint over the next three years and the plan is to transition into the Joint Strike Fighter,” he said, noting that orders for the T700 helicopter turbo-shaft engine should remain steady into 2010.The Joint Strike Fighter is a fifth-generation, multi-role aircraft made to replace the AV-8B Harrier, A-10, F-16, F/A-18 Hornet and the United Kingdom’s Harrier GR.7 and Sea Harrier, all of which are powered by GE or Rolls-Royce engines. A vote to keep GE out of the Joint Strike Fighter contract means the company would have no new fighter engine in its manufacturing pipeline. However, GE is developing the GE38 helicopter engine for a heavy-lift helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky for use by the U.S. Marines, Kennedy said.”The engine for the heavy-lift helicopter would be in production for the long term, and manufacturing hasn’t even begun. But that engine will be made in Lynn,” he said.The argument by GE that its rival Joint Strike Fighter engine is necessary to national security and good for the Pentagon’s budget has been bolstered by more than $1 billion in cost overruns at Pratt & Whitney. More so, the Pratt & Whitney engine emitted unexpected exhaust sparks during an important test last weekend, causing consternation among aviation experts.The high-profile engine failure, chronicled by the national media, could positively impact the Senate view of the GE proposal.In an effort to make the proposal more attractive, GE and Rolls-Royce have offered Congress an unsolicited fixed engine price. As a counter measure, Pratt & Whitney has indicated a willingness to adopt a similar pricing structure.The debate over military spending and cost overruns in major weapons systems grew more poignant after the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 was signed into law, mandating competition through the entire life of major defense program.In other words, the mandate includes funding competing sources.According to Kennedy, the Joint Strike Fighter program creates the perfect opportunity – a multi-role aircraft replacing numerous tactical fighter aircraft, with potential production for the U.S. Air Force