GE-Lynn jobs in balance amid F-35 engine battle

LYNN – Hundreds of General Electric jobs in Lynn are directly linked to the fate of the Joint Strike Fighter and the congressional votes that could decide whether the company will share in the aircraft’s engine production.In a repeat of the scenario that unfolded last year, the futuristic fighter plane known as the F-35 Lightning II is the subject of heated debate, mostly because engine maker Pratt & Whitney was awarded the bulk of the manufacturing contract.GE officials and their partners at Rolls Royce Group have argued that competition is healthy and should entitle the company to some of the contract, which has an estimated worth of $100 billion over the anticipated 35-year lifespan of the aircraft.President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have made no secret of their opinion that a second engine maker for the F-35 is unnecessary is wasteful. Their combined executive clout, coupled with Pratt & Whitney supporters in Congress, has jeopardized the future of the GE River Works.Once the F-35 goes into production, the Navy, Marines and Air Force will all fly the same aircraft, albeit in versions customized for their particular needs. As a result, the currently most advanced fighter plane in use by the U.S. military – the F-18 powered by twin GE F414 jet engines – will be phased out.Production of the F414 engine, along with the T700 jet engine for the Black Hawk and Apache military helicopters, is what keeps GE jobs in Lynn, although the majority of those two engine models are made at other GE facilities around the country.According to GE spokesman Rick Kennedy, approximately 400 people would work on the Joint Strike Fighter engine in Lynn if the F-35 program is approved. “Right now, about 150 contractors in the Boston area and 50 employees in Lynn are working on the development phases for that engine,” he said Monday. “If we survive all the political machinations, we expect to have 400 people working on it in Lynn.”Kennedy said those jobs would replace the positions lost as production of the engine for the F-18 fighter plane is eliminated. “You would have reduction in the demand for replacement of engines for the F-18,” he said. “The new jobs would be more of a stabilization. It would be the key to maintaining those jobs.”The F-18 fighter has been the primary combat aircraft on the battlefield since the early 1980s.While GE pushes for its version of the Joint Strike Fighter engine, rival Pratt & Whitney continues what Kennedy described as a full-court press.”Their desire is to have the whole monopoly. They don’t want to compete for the program,” the spokesman said. “It wasn’t competed up front and now Pratt is spending millions to convince people that they don’t want or need competition.”Kennedy said it is ironic that Pratt & Whitney rejects competition considering that its Joint Strike Fighter engine research-and-development costs are 50 percent over the projected budget, and its production 40 percent over.Meanwhile, Pratt & Whitney achieved a major milestone earlier this month when the first U.S. Navy version of the supersonic F-35 Lightning II climbed skyward on its inaugural flight out of Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base.The first GE test flight is scheduled for 2011 and engine production and delivery set to begin in 2013, Kennedy said.In a show of confidence, Pratt & Whitney also announced plans to expand its Maine workforce over the next several years for the first time since the recession began. The company unveiled it would bring its North Berwick plant with 1,286 workers back to its former level of 1,500 employees by 2015.”There’s a lot of rhetoric out there at the moment,” said Kennedy.In Washington, D.C., where the contract battle is fought, the House in late May voted 231-to-193 in GE’s favor, despite attempts by some members of Congress to kill the authorization by filing amendments. The vote passed a fiscal 2011 defense bill that includes $485 million in engine development funding for