Unit Cost of F-35B Engine Jumps 15% to $27.8M in Five Months

Unit Cost of F-35B Engine Jumps 15% in 5 Months to $27.8M

(Source: Defense-Aerospace.com; posted April 22, 2020)

By Giovanni de Briganti

PARIS --- The unit cost of a Pratt & Whitney engine for the troubled Lockheed Martin F-35B STOVL variant has increased to $27.78 million, according to a contract announced by the Pentagon on April 21.

The announcement said the Pentagon would pay $111.13 million for four F135-PW-600 engines, or $27.78 million each.

Remarkably, this is an increase of 15% since Nov. 21, 2019 – five months ago to the day -- when the Pentagon awarded a previous engine contract which included ten F135-PW-600 engines for $240.9 million, or $24.1 million each.

The Pentagon announcements provided no explanation of the increase. A spokeswoman for Pratt & Whitney declined to comment the price increase this morning, and referred all queries to the F-35 Joint Program Office, which did not respond outside of office hours in the U.S.

The increase of $3.7 million per engine is equivalent to +15% in five months (or 36% on an annual basis), or exactly ten times higher than the annual inflation rate in the United States, which according to U.S. Labor Department data published on April 10, 2020 was 1.5% for the 12 months ended March 2020.

While an annual inflation rate of 36% in a procurement program raises questions of contractual oversight and ethics, it also clearly contradicts Pentagon claims that it continues to reduce F-35 production costs.

Announcing a $34 billion contract for 478 additional F-35 aircraft on Oct. 29, 2019, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment Ellen M. Lord said that “there's a per-unit cost reduction for each variant of the aircraft that averages around 12.7%,” which seems difficult to reconcile with STOVL engine costs that are increasing by 36% on an annual basis.

The contract announcements of Nov. 21 (P00014) and April 21 (P00019) are both modifications to the same contract (N00019-18-C-1021), confirming that both conform to the same terms and are thus directly comparable.

Furthermore, both contracts are due to be completed at approximately the same time, in April and July 2022.

Both contracts are reproduced below with the salient points highlighted in bold typeface.

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Pentagon Contract Announcement

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued April 21, 2020)

United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded an $111,131,635 modification (P00019) to a previously-awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm, cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost reimbursable contract (N00019-18-C-1021).

This modification exercises an option for the production and delivery of four Pratt & Whitney (PW) F135-PW-600 propulsion systems for the Marine Corps to be installed in F-35B short take-off and vertical landing aircraft.

Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (51.7%); Indianapolis, Indiana (38.8%); and Bristol, United Kingdom (9.5%), and is expected to be complete by July 2022.

Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $111,131,635 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

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Pentagon Contract Announcement

(Source: US Department of Defense; issued Nov. 21, 2020)

United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded a $762,486,023 modification (P00014) to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-fee contract (N00019-18-C-1021).

This modification exercises options for the Lot 14 production and delivery of 48 F135-PW-100 propulsion systems for the Air Force and 10 F135-PW-600 propulsion systems for the Marine Corps.

Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (85.3%); Indianapolis, Indiana (11.8%); and Bristol, United Kingdom (2.9%), and is expected to be completed in April 2022.

Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Air Force and Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $762,486,023 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

This modification combines purchases for the Air Force ($521,507,748; 68%); and the Marine Corps ($240,978,275; 32%).

The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

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