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Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce F135 STOVL Team Completes Gearbox Test

EAST HARTFORD, Conn., June 12, 2007 – Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce completed the last of the three-step gearbox test which validated the gearbox design and demonstrated expected engine performance at all required thrust levels for the F135 short-takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) propulsion system. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) company.

The Rolls-Royce LiftFan® gearbox allows the STOVL version of the F-35 Lightning II to achieve vertical-lift capability. The qualification test was completed at the Rolls-Royce facility in Indianapolis, Ind.

“Completion of this rigorous test demonstrates the maturity of the Rolls-Royce designed common lift components,” said Bill Gostic, vice president, Pratt & Whitney F135 Program. “The entire F135 team is focused on achieving flight qualification of the F135 STOVL for the first flight of the STOVL F-35 Lightning II next year.”

Pratt & Whitney is the lead propulsion system supplier for the F-35 program and to date, the F135 engine has logged more than 7,700 system design and development ground test hours and continues to power the F-35 Lightning II flight test program. The F135 engine is an evolution of the F119 engine for the F-22 Raptor; together the F135 and F119 will have logged more than 600,000 hours before the F-35’s introduction into operational service in 2012. Rated at more than 40,000 pounds of thrust, the F135 is the most powerful fighter engine ever built.

Rolls-Royce, a world-leading provider of power systems and services for use on land, at sea and in the air, operates in four global markets – civil aerospace, defense aerospace, marine and energy.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high-technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.

Pratt & Whitney Contacts:
Stephanie Duvall
Pratt & Whitney Military Engines
860.557.1382
stephanie.duvall@pw.utc.com

Jennifer Whitlow
Pratt & Whitney
860.565.9600
jennifer.whitlow@pw.utc.com

Rolls-Royce Contact:
Maria Y. Weber
Director, Corporate Communications, Rolls-Royce
317.230.6662
maria.y.weber@rolls-royce.com