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F135 Program Reaches 3,000 SDD Test Hours as Pratt & Whitney Prepares to Build First Flight Test Engine

Contact: Matthew Perra
Phone:(860) 565-8938
matthew.perra@pw.utc.com

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 20, 2005 - Pratt & Whitney F135 ground test engines logged their 3,000th System Development and Demonstration (SDD) test hour this week as the company prepares to begin assembly of the first F135 flight test engine this summer.

The 3,000 SDD hours, combined with more than 3,500 hours accumulated during the Concept Demonstration Aircraft (CDA) phase of the F-35 development program, demonstrate an unprecedented level of maturity and experience as power for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The milestone, achieved during engine runs at the company’s advanced test facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., represents the cumulative hours of F135 ground test engines including both Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL)/Carrier Variant (CV) and Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) configuration engines.

"With the experience of thousands of hours of development testing and the constant benefit of lessons learned from the F119 core that has been flight-proven on the F/A-22 Raptor, the F135 is raising the bar for development engine reliability," said Bill Gostic, vice president of F135 engine programs for Pratt & Whitney. "As SDD testing continues, the entire F135 team is now focused on delivering the first flight test engine."

To date, the Pratt & Whitney F135 propulsion team has delivered three CTOL/CV configuration and four STOVL configuration F135 engines to test for a total of seven engines delivered for ground testing. Five additional ground test engines will be added to the test cycle throughout the rest of the SDD program, including two this year which will qualify the configuration of the first flight test engine.

In August, Pratt & Whitney will begin assembly of the first flight test engine in support of the F-35's first flight in August 2006. The first flight test engine will be delivered to Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth, Texas, plant in December of this year, with the F135 program achieving Initial Flight Release in January 2006. Low Rate Initial Production deliveries of the F135 are planned to begin in 2009.

The technologically advanced F135 is an evolution of the highly successful F119 engine for the F/A-22 Raptor. Together the F135 and F119 will have logged more than one million flight hours before the F-35’s introduction into operational service in 2012.

The F135 propulsion system team consists of Pratt & Whitney, the prime contractor with responsibility for the main engine and system integration; Rolls-Royce, providing lift components for the STOVL F-35B; and Hamilton Sundstrand, provider of the F135’s control system, external accessories and gearbox.

Pratt & Whitney military engine models include the F135 for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; the F119 powering the F/A-22 Raptor; the F117 for the C-17 Globemaster III; the F100 for F-15 and F-16 fighters; the J52 for the EA-6B Prowler; the TF33 powering AWACS, Joint STARS, B-52, C-141 and KC-135 aircraft; the TF30 for the F-111, the PT6 for T-6A and UH-1N aircraft; and JT15 for the T-1A trainer and Pegasus UCAV.

Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies (NYSE:UTX) company, is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines.

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