Pratt & Whitney awarded $5.2 billion contract to develop engines for F-35 Lightning II

(Reuters) – Pratt & Whitney, a Raytheon Technologies unit, said on Monday it has been awarded a $5.2 billion contract to support production of the 15th and 16th lots of F135 engines, with an option to award a 17th lot, powering all three variants of the F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft.

The total contract value for lots 15-17, with exercised options, is about $8 billion and will fund over 418 F135 engines, Pratt & Whitney said.

The contract funds production of 278 F135 engines with an option to order up to 518 engines. It also includes program management, engineering support, production support and tooling.

The U.S. government had cleared Pratt & Whitney to resume deliveries of its F-135 engine for the F-35 fighter jet last month after a halt was put in place in December following the discovery of a safety concern.

As of December 2022, Pratt & Whitney has delivered more than 1,000 F135 production engines.

(Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)