The Air Force and prime contractor Northrop Grumman chose a Pratt & Whitney engine to replace the existing P&W engines on the service’s fleet of 19 E-8 Joint STARS ground surveillance aircraft. A P&W statement called its JT8D-219 propulsion system the “most cost-effective approach.” And, a Northrop release asserted that, over the life of the program, the new engines “will pay for themselves in cost savings” when compared to the cost to maintain the older, existing engines.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
