Pratt & Whitney clears design review for F-35 engine upgrade

Pratt & Whitney, a business unit of RTX (NYSE: RTX), has completed the F135 Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) Risk Reduction Design Review, a milestone the company says validates the maturity of the upgrade's design and advances the program toward production.

The review assessed detailed design elements, propulsion technologies, aircraft integration considerations and risk-reduction activities. The upgrade is intended to provide additional power and thermal management capacity to support advanced sensors, weapons and other capabilities across all three F-35 Lightning II variants. The review also evaluated the industrial base's readiness to support future production and retrofit.

U.S. Navy Capt. Mitch Grant, F-35 Propulsion Program Manager, said the review "highlighted strong collaboration among our industry and government team, demonstrating a mature ECU design," adding that the program "remains on track to deliver substantially improved readiness."

The risk reduction work is supported by a contract awarded in 2024 and covers design maturation, aircraft integration, test preparation, supply-base readiness and related engineering activities.

Pratt & Whitney states it has delivered more than 1,500 F135 production engines to customers across 20 allied nations. The ECU is designed as a drop-in upgrade for both new-production and fielded aircraft and is planned to be incorporated at production or retrofitted at F135 depot facilities.

The information above is based on a press release issued by RTX.

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