Jet-Engine Maker Pratt & Whitney Gets $2.9 Billion Contract Modification for Fighter-Jet Work

Jet-engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney has been awarded an approximately $2.9 billion contract modification from the U.S. Department of Defense to support continued production of F135 engines for F-35 fighter jets.

The new funding was disclosed Friday on the department's website. About 30% of the work will be carried out in Connecticut, with the vast majority of the in-state production set to take place at Pratt's manufacturing plants in East Hartford and Middletown.

"This modification adds scope for the production and delivery of 141 F135 propulsion systems in support of Lot 18 F-35 aircraft production for the Joint Strike Fighter program for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, F-35 Cooperative Program Partners and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers," according to an excerpt of the contract-modification announcement.

In addition to the Connecticut manufacturing, the remainder of the work will be carried out across locations in California, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Virginia and Washington, as well as other sites within and outside the "continental U.S.," according to the Department of Defense's announcement. The work is expected to be completed in February 2028.

The new announcement follows another F135 contract modification, worth about $115 million, that DOD announced on Aug. 1. Among other contract awards in the past year, Pratt & Whitney received one worth up to $1.3 billion for F135 upgrades and another worth up to $1.5 billion for more work on F119 engines, which power the U.S. Air Force's F-22 fighter jets.

The F135s power the three variants of the F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft, which are made by another aerospace-and-defense giant, Lockheed Martin, whose other businesses include Stratford-based helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky.

Pratt & Whitney's deliveries of F135 engines, as well as GTF models for commercial aircraft, were affected by the three-week strike in May of the company's approximately 3,000 Connecticut-based machinists. The work stoppage was resolved when the machinists approved a new four-year contract on May 27.

"That's something we're going to have to recover throughout the balance of the year," Christopher Calio, CEO and chairman of RTX, Pratt & Whitney's parent company, said on May 28 at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference. "There will be a cash impact here in the second quarter as a result. I think break-even to negative cash flow in the quarter, but again, recoverable in the year. We're going to continue to get our people back, ramped up, get our engines back out the door."

Pratt & Whitney is one of the largest employers in Connecticut, with about 10,800 people based across its plants in East Hartford and Middletown, which comprise its two manufacturing facilities in Connecticut.

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