Air Force Wants Second Powerplant Option
Officials with the US Air Force and the Department of Defense
continue to spar over what each thinks is best for the service. In
addition to differing views on how many F-22 Raptors the Air Force
should be allowed to buy, and how many C-17 Globemaster III
transports are needed, the two sides are also squabbling over
whether to allow a second company to develop an engine for the F-35
Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.
GE and Rolls-Royce were awarded the joint $2.5 billion contract
in 2005, to develop the F136 turbofan as a second powerplant
option, to complement the F135 under development by Pratt &
Whitney. Just over half of those funds for GE have been authorized
so far, including $480 million for FY 2008. The White House doesn't
want to spend a dime more on the program, however.
The Air Force wants the second engine... but Pentagon officials
-- stinging from the recent report by the Government Accountability
Office stating JSF costs have skyrocketed to $337 billion, as ANN reported -- want to
stop the financial bleeding any way they can, and that includes
dumping the F136.
But is that the best option for the USAF?
"I would keep [the F136] alive," Air Force Secretary Michael
Wynne told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 5,
according to the Hartford (CT) Courant. He acknowledged, however,
such a choice would be a "very tough decision" to make, given other
urgent Air Force needs, and the lack of funds.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley was more to the
point. "I believe there should be a second engine," he said
bluntly. "My personal opinion is there should be a second engine.
And we have had some problems with turbine blades on the one,"
referring to Pratt's F135, as ANN has reported.
Proponents for GE's second engine choice in Congress will use
those statements as a rallying call for more funding for the F136,
said analyst Richard Aboulafia.
"It's designed to give ammunition to the people who are inclined
to fund things the Air Force wants, but doesn't want to spend its
money on," said Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with the Teal
Group.
Officially, the Pentagon remains opposed to the F135. Funding
for the GE/Rolls engine has been dropped from proposed Defense
Department budgets for the past two years. Each time, funding has
been restored in Congress.
That position also forces Wynne and Moseley to walk a political
tightrope -- as both say they stand by the DoD's FY2009 budget
request, and admit they don't know how the Air Force will be able
to afford both engines.