Company Says It Is Committed To Completing The Powerplant
The Department of Defense has issued a "Stop Work" order to the
GE/Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine team instructing them to stop efforts
on the F136 for 2011 once the current funding runs out at the end
of March.
"The administration and the DoD strongly oppose the extra engine
program, as reflected in the President’s fiscal 2012 budget
proposal that was recently submitted to Congress, which does not
include funding for the program," the Pentagon said in a news
release. "In our view it is a waste of taxpayer money that can be
used to fund higher Departmental priorities, and should be ended
now.
"The House of Representatives has recently expressed its own
opposition to the extra engine in its passage of H.R. 1 including
the adoption of the Rooney Amendment which removed all fiscal 2011
funding for this program," the statement continued. "In addition,
funding for the extra engine was not authorized in the National
Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2011, enacted in January. In
light of these recent events, Congressional prerogatives, and the
administration’s view of the program, we have concluded that
a stop work order is now the correct course. The stop work order
will remain in place pending final resolution of the
program’s future, for a period not to exceed 90 days, unless
extended by agreement of the government and the contractor.
GE issues a statement of its own, saying it was "disappointed"
by the DoD's unilateral action before Congress has completed its
work on the fiscal year 2011 budget. But, the company said, it was
not giving up on the engine. "We feel so strongly about this issue,
as do our Congressional supporters, that we will, consistent with
the stop work directive; self-fund the F136 program through this
90-day stop work period," the company said in a statement. "We are
fully committed to delivering a better engine for the F-35 program,
and have no intention of abandoning the warfighter and
taxpayers.
"Everyone knows competition saves money. Our supporters in
Congress are more determined than ever, and are encouraging us to
press the merits of our case.
"We will not walk away from a $3 billion taxpayer investment and
your hard work to deliver what the Senate has called a “near
model program.” The F136 engine is meeting or exceeding
performance expectations, is demonstrating significant advantages
over the Pratt & Whitney engine, and is nearly complete.
"The F135 has racked up $3.4 billion in cost overruns with
continued delays and technical issues. Just last week, House
hearings confirmed that the P&W engine has not met required
testing for the JSF flight envelope after four years.
"These issues won’t fix themselves. Only competition
creates performance based rewards and delivers better and better
capability … it’s just that simple. Mischaracterizing
the F136 as “redundant” does not support our founding
principles of competition and excellence which are at the core of
the US military.
"We are gratified that several House and Senate leaders, who
will convene in early April to complete the FY2011 budget process,
are determined supporters of competing JSF engines for a myriad of
financial and security reasons."