Pratt & Whitney announced Nov. 23 that it has delivered the 400th F119 engine to the Air Force for the F-22 stealth fighter force. In a company release Nov. 23, Tyler Evans, Pratt’s F119 program director, said this delivery is “tangible proof of the maturity of this fifth-generation engine.” F119s have already accumulated more than 125,000 operational flight hours, he said. Two F119 engines power each F-22. Pratt is using the production and flight experience gleaned from the F119 as it matures the more powerful F135, a powerplant for the F-35 stealth fighter, that uses the F119’s core.
A legislative standoff has led to a lapse in a $4.26 billion small business innovation contracting program widely used by the Air Force and could spell the end of it entirely, industry sources warned Air & Space Forces Magazine.
