Pratt & Whitney should be able to cut costs on the F-35’s engine now that it’s been named as the builder of engines for the B-21 bomber, Joint Strike Fighter program manager Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said Thursday. Speaking at a McAleese and Associates seminar in Washington, D.C., Bogdan said, “I think there’re some things that we learned on the F135 at Pratt & Whitney that will greatly benefit” the new bomber. “And at the same time, I think that Pratt & Whitney ought to be looking to drive the cost of the F135 engine down now that they have that other business. I would expect them to.” Bogdan said technology developed for each of the engines should have application to the other, and there should also be economies on overhead from producing parts and full-up engines in the same locations. Though Bogdan seemed to confirm that the F135 core will be used in the B-21, he backed away from that with reporters, saying he is not involved with the bomber program and has no insight into its particulars.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.