Pratt wins $1.04 bln U.S. deal for F-35 fighter engines
(Adds details, comment from Pratt)
WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) - Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, has won an additional $1.04 billion contract for F-35 fighter jet engines, bringing the total value of its work on a ninth batch of the engines to $1.4 billion, the Pentagon said on Monday.
The contract announced on Monday finalizes part of an agreement in principle that Pratt reached with the U.S. Defense Department in January for more than $3.0 billion in two separate contracts - a ninth batch of 66 F135 engines and a 10th batch of 101 engines.
The $1.04 billion contract comes on top of $360 million in funding that had already been awarded to Pratt to sustain the F135 engine production line.
Pratt said the deal would further reduce the cost of the engines it builds for the Lockheed Martin Corp fighter jets, with further cost reductions to be included in the contract for the 10th batch of jets.
The company said the contract includes 53 conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) engines and 13 short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) propulsion systems for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, and five other countries - Italy, Norway, Israel, Japan and Britain.
Mark Buongiorno, vice president of Pratt's F135 engine program, said the F135 engine's reliability rate was already over 90 percent, well ahead of a key 2020 requirement.
"We remain laser-focused on reducing costs, meeting our delivery schedule commitments, ensuring dependable engine performance, and preparing for global sustainment of the F-35 fleet," he said in a statement.
To date, Pratt & Whitney has delivered 273 production engines for the advanced new stealth fighter.
Production of the engines in the ninth batch is already underway, with the first engines due to begin in the second quarter.
Pratt said it was working with the Pentagon's F-35 program office to finalize a contract for the 10th batch of jet engines by the end of April.
(Reporting by Eric Walsh and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Eric Beech and Diane Craft)
