Pratt & Whitney has announced that it has delivered the 1,000th F135 production engine for the 5th Generation F-35 Lightning II fighter to the U.S. Department of Defense. The milestone was marked by a celebration with employees, company leaders, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) as well as representatives from the F-35 Joint Program Office.
Since delivering the first production engine in 2009, P&W has invested more than half a billion dollars in capital, process improvements and cost reduction initiatives to support the production ramp and reduce the average unit cost of the F135 by more than 50%. In addition to Middletown, F135 production sites include P&W’s West Palm Beach, FL facility as well as a Final Assembly & Check-Out (FACO) facility operated by IHI in Japan.