Britain Pushes for Second JSF Engine

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-Va.) promised to get to the bottom of DOD’s termination of the alternate F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engine—kicking off the first of two hearings on the matter Tuesday afternoon. One of the first witnesses, Lord Peter Drayson, the United Kingdom’s minister for defense procurement, told the committee that there are financial and performance benefits associated with the alternate engine program. Drayson said that the British government is “determined to make a success of JSF” and believes having two engine manufacturers provides significant advantages. He noted, too, the later technology offered by the GE-Rolls Royce F136 engine that, he said, would boost performance.