Le Bourget, France Pratt & Whitney’s military engines sector is undergoing a time of transition, as the company winds down production of several engines that have been staples of its portfolio for decades while ramping up the manufacture of powerplants for critical next-generation platforms, company President David Hess, said here on Tuesday. Production of the F119 that powers the F-22 concluded last year and the assembly lines for the F100, which propels F-15 and F-16 fighters, and for the F117, the engine on the Air Force’s C-17 transports, are moving into their final stages, Hess told reporters on June 18, the second day of the 50th Paris Air Show. Meanwhile, the F-135 powerplant for the F-35 strike fighter and the PW4062 engine for the Air Force’s KC-46A tanker are becoming “the big growth drivers” of the company’s military work, he said. For example, in 2016, F135 deliveries are scheduled to “start to ramp up dramatically,” he said, noting that the program of record calls for P&W to build 240 F135s in 2020.
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…
