Wed, Dec 07, 2011
GE, Rolls Face Reality As Defense Budgets Are Threatened
When the US Department of Defense finally won its five-year
battle with pork-minded federal lawmakers and ordered an end to the
development of an alternative jet engine for the F-35 in April, GE
and Rolls-Royce said their F-136 engine was 80 percent through
development, and that they would continue its development at their
own cost. The hope was the dawning of a new fiscal year and an
improving economy would provide more cover for politicians in
affected states to re-start the program.
But the economy hasn't improved, the federal deficit has only
become an even bigger political issue, and the new federal fiscal
year dawned October 1 with no new support for the alternative
engine. Defense News now reports that GE and Rolls have announced
they'll discontinue further development. The decision has
implications for employment in Ohio and other states, and means the
Pratt & Whitney F135 engine, which won the original competition
years ago, will remain the sole engine used in the Joint Strike
Fighter.
To the end, the partners have claimed that theirs was the
superior engine. A joint statement says, in part, "“GE and
Rolls-Royce are proud of our technology advancements and
accomplishments on the F136. Before the program was terminated, six
F136 development engines had accumulated more than 1,200 hours of
testing since early 2009. The (fighter engine team) consistently
delivered on cost and on schedule...
"GE and Rolls-Royce are deeply grateful to our many
Congressional supporters on both sides of the aisle over these many
years as well as the military experts who have supported competing
engines for JSF. We do not waver in our belief that competition is
central to meaningful defense acquisition reform.”
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