Air Force Wants Second Powerplant Option

Officials with the US Air Force and the Department of Defense continue to spar over what each thinks is best for the service. In addition to differing views on how many F-22 Raptors the Air Force should be allowed to buy, and how many C-17 Globemaster III transports are needed, the two sides are also squabbling over whether to allow a second company to develop an engine for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.

GE and Rolls-Royce were awarded the joint $2.5 billion contract in 2005, to develop the F136 turbofan as a second powerplant option, to complement the F135 under development by Pratt & Whitney. Just over half of those funds for GE have been authorized so far, including $480 million for FY 2008. The White House doesn't want to spend a dime more on the program, however.

The Air Force wants the second engine... but Pentagon officials -- stinging from the recent report by the Government Accountability Office stating JSF costs have skyrocketed to $337 billion, as ANN reported -- want to stop the financial bleeding any way they can, and that includes dumping the F136.

But is that the best option for the USAF?

"I would keep [the F136] alive," Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 5, according to the Hartford (CT) Courant. He acknowledged, however, such a choice would be a "very tough decision" to make, given other urgent Air Force needs, and the lack of funds.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley was more to the point. "I believe there should be a second engine," he said bluntly. "My personal opinion is there should be a second engine. And we have had some problems with turbine blades on the one," referring to Pratt's F135, as ANN has reported.

Proponents for GE's second engine choice in Congress will use those statements as a rallying call for more funding for the F136, said analyst Richard Aboulafia.

"It's designed to give ammunition to the people who are inclined to fund things the Air Force wants, but doesn't want to spend its money on," said Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with the Teal Group.

Officially, the Pentagon remains opposed to the F135. Funding for the GE/Rolls engine has been dropped from proposed Defense Department budgets for the past two years. Each time, funding has been restored in Congress.

That position also forces Wynne and Moseley to walk a political tightrope -- as both say they stand by the DoD's FY2009 budget request, and admit they don't know how the Air Force will be able to afford both engines.

FMI: www.jsf.mil, www.geae.com, www.pw.utc.com