Three members of Connecticut’s Capitol Hill delegation, Congressman John Larson and Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy have jointly announced the awarding of a $30.8 million Pentagon contract for Pratt & Whitney to produce F135 jet engines at its plant in Cromwell, Connecticut. The F135 engines are used to power F-35 fighter jets.
They point out that the F135 engine was selected in 2001 after a competitive bidding process for use as the powerplant for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. According to Larson, Republicans twice tried to switch to a different engine and stop using what Pratt & Whitney was building and in 2011 and 2023 those efforts were defeated. Larson estimated that taxpayers were saved up to $3 billion by sticking with Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engine.
“This $30.8 million contract modification to produce more Pratt & Whitney F135 engines is a solid investment in our state’s defense manufacturing base and another vote of confidence for the unparalleled quality of Connecticut-made technology,” Larson, Blumenthal and Murphy said in their joint announcement. “Our military services and allies deserve nothing but the best engines, and the Joint Strike Fighter program is a critical piece of our nation’s military readiness. We are thrilled to see our state’s talented machinists and engineers recognized for their skill and ingenuity and will keep fighting to ensure that Pratt & Whitney remains the sole engine provider for F-35 fighter jets.”
Larson said that over the years Connecticut has benefited to the tune of more than 23,000 jobs and $900 million in federal spending on the F-35 fighter jets and F135 engines. He pointed out that in 2024, he secured language in the annual defense funding bill barring the use of federal funds for an alternative engine for the F-35 planes. That effectively makes Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut the only engine supplier for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter program.
The F-35 Lightning II airplane is built by Lockheed-Martin. It can fly at supersonic speeds and is built using radar-absorbent materials with weapons stored internally making it invisible to many radar systems and allowing it to function as a stealth fighter. The aircraft is flown by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, as well as some U.S. allies.
