Larson fights for military contract

Hartford, Conn. (WTNH) - The takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives by the Republicans may not be good news for Connecticut's largest private employer. A renewed fight over who will build the engines for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter means that United Technologies' Pratt & Whitney aircraft may have a tougher fight on its hands in getting that contract.

Eighty-three F-35 fighter planes have been authorized and appropriated, but the U.S. military has expressed an interest in acquiring over 2,000. That means the purchase and continued maintenance of the JSF-119 Pratt and Whitney engine would be an enormous boost for continued employment here in Connecticut.

But the incoming Speaker of the House, Republican John Boehner, and his deputy, Eric Cantor, have expressed strong support for an alternative engine for the aircraft made by General Electric and Rolls Royce. General Electric has a plant in Boehner's Ohio district and Rolls Royce has one in Cantor's district in Virginia.

President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have made it clear they don't want the alternative engine.

"The Pentagon, for the last two years, but this year, vociferously, through Gates, has said; it's unwanted, it's unneeded, it's unnecessary, and it's God awful expensive," said Rep. John Larson (D-1st district)

One of the arguments against it is that if an aircraft carrier had F-35's with two kinds of engines aboard, they'd need two teams of technicians to take care of them instead of one.

For Larson, it's all about jobs in his district.

"United Technologies, which won the competition, already ought to be the single source on this going forward, and that will, again, mean huge jobs, instead of holding on by our nails, we'll actually be hiring people at East Hartford and Middletown," he said.

This renewed battle for the F-35 engine comes on a week when there was a little good news for Pratt & Whitney. While he was in India, President Obama announced an agreement with the Indian Air Force to purchase ten Boeing C-17 Globemaster aircraft powered by four Pratt & Whitney engines. Larson says this will be a test of the new Republican majority's commitment to putting an end to earmarks.

Larson says he doesn't criticize Boehner and Cantor for trying to bring jobs to their districts, but since the Pentagon is opposed on economic grounds Pratt & Whitney should be the logical choice.

GE gets about 86-percent of military contracts while Pratt & Whitney gets about 12-percent.

In a statement issued Friday, Pratt and Whitney says:

The F135 engine program is important to Pratt & Whitney and to Connecticut. Pratt & Whitney is committed to working with new members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to ensure they understand how well the F135 is performing and the long-term cost-savings associated with developing one engine for the program. The facts support the Administration’s position and the belief held by so many in Congress that spending billions more on alternate engine is ultimately a waste and an unnecessary burden on taxpayers. Both the Administration and the DoD have repeatedly said they don't want or need another engine.

The F135 engine continues to perform well in flight test and is in production. Pratt & Whitney has delivered 10 production engines. The F135 is nearing 20,000 test hours. The F135 has powered more than 477 flight tests, accumulated more than 690 flight test hours and powered 12 vertical landings. The F135 CTOL/CV version entered production earlier this year. The STOVL variant has completed all necessary tests for production qualification and is weeks away from receiving initial service release.