Pratt Claims Competitive Privilege in Concealing F135 Prices
Despite a vow of transparency from the outspoken program manager of the turbulent, nearly $400 billion F-35 fighter program, even the government is having trouble compelling its sole-source engine manufacturer to release pricing data.
Company officials consider their contractual information and pricing data for the F-35 to be competitive. Pratt & Whitney, manufacturer of the F135 engine to be used on all F-35s, has declined numerous requests from Aviation Week over many months to release either its pricing data or its contractual cost targets. The company points to a forthcoming program to field a more efficient, higher-thrust fighter engine as its grounds for claiming the sole-source F135 is a competitive engine program.
“While we are the only engine provider for the F-35, [Defense] Secretary Hagel recently announced that the department has allocated a $1 billion investment in the 2015 budget for the next generation in fighter engine technology,” Pratt says. “We have already made significant progress in advancing this technology and anticipate a competition will be held to develop this engine. Releasing engine pricing and cost data on the F135 would impact our ability to compete for this potential next-generation fighter engine program.” The goal of this effort is to provide a higher thrust and more efficient engine, likely to be used on the F-35 well into the future. Congress has not yet approved the project.
Pratt is the sole-source provider of F-35 engines after having fought a hard battle to torpedo its competition from General Electric with its F136.
Still, the F-35 program office is under pressure from the Pentagon and from Congress to show progress in reducing cost.
“We are trying to get that information out,” said Rear Adm. Randy Mahr, deputy program manager of the F-35. “But I can’t force somebody to go ahead and report something that by law they are not” required to report. Mahr made his comments in response to a question from Aviation Week in his presentation at the Sea Air Space 2014 conference here hosted by the Navy League. He said the program office’s lawyers and Pratt’s lawyers have been discussing the issue.
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