On Friday, August 22, 2025, the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in Patuxent River, Maryland, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense, signed a contract worth 2,878,495,761 USD with Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies Corp. (part of RTX), for the production and delivery of 141 F135 turbofan engines for F-35 Lightning II multirole aircraft from the 18th production lot.
F135 / Photos: Pratt & Whitney
The recipients of the engines will be the Department of Defense, specifically the U.S. Air Force (USAF), the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), as well as partners in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program and foreign customers under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
The work will be carried out in East Hartford, Connecticut (17.3%), Indianapolis, Indiana (10.4%), Middletown, Connecticut (8%), Kent, Washington (7%), North Berwick, Maine (4%), El Cajon, California (3%), Cromwell, Connecticut (3%), Whitehall, Michigan (3%), Portland, Oregon (2%), San Diego, California (2%), South Bend, Indiana (2%), Columbus, Georgia (1%), Hampton, Virginia (1%), Manchester, Connecticut (1%), Cheshire, Connecticut (1%), Elmwood Park, New Jersey (1%), various locations within the continental United States (27.3%), and various locations outside of it (7%). Completion is scheduled for February 2028.
Funding comes from reprogrammed FY2024 defense budget allocations: 575,726,390 USD for U.S. Navy aircraft procurement and 537,304,610 USD for U.S. Air Force aircraft procurement; FY2025 defense budget allocations: 79,962,704 USD for U.S. Navy aircraft procurement and 77,336,243 USD for U.S. Air Force aircraft procurement; FMS program funds amounting to 513,763,860 USD; and contributions from foreign customers of the F-35 JSF program totaling 228,500,253 USD. All funds were obligated at the time of contract award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year (September 30).
Earlier, on August 1 of this year, NAVAIR awarded a $115 million contract to Pratt & Whitney Military Engines for the production of components and parts for F135 engines. Subsequently, on September 4, 2024, Raytheon signed two contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense for continued support of these engines: one worth $405 million and another worth nearly $112 million.
On March 3 of this year, the global F-35 fleet surpassed 1 million flight hours. At that time, it was reported that the current engine readiness rate stands at 94% and that the fleet is undergoing an Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) as well as modernization of the Enhanced Power and Cooling System (EPACS).