Pratt & Whitney Selects Italian Partners to Provide Components For F-35 Military Jet Engines

Aerospace engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney has recently unveiled that they have given brand new ten year contracts to four Italian suppliers (Aerea S.p.A., APR S.r.l., Mepit S.r.l., and NCM S.p.A.) worth upwards of $17 million. The new contracts will allow each of the four companies to manufacture key components for Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engines. This announcement is just the latest example of Pratt & Whitney expanding their global manufacturing network on behalf of their F135 engine program.

According to Cliff Stone, vice president of business development at Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, the company chose the four Italian suppliers based on many criteria including reliability, quality, and cost.

Pratt & Whitney works hard to identify and team with capable suppliers who can deliver high-quality products at competitive prices. These awards directly support our goals for F135 industrial participation with small and medium enterprise suppliers… We have had great success working with Italian industry. We recognize the advanced capabilities and value that exists with these particular suppliers and look forward to having them as part of Pratt & Whitney's global supply chain for the F135 engine.

The Lockheed Martin produced F-35 Lighting II is a next generation all-weather single engine stealth jet currently in its final development phases. Although the plane is being almost entirely funded by the United States, a number of other countries regularly contribute to its production including Canada, Denmark, Norway, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Italy. Despite all of this support, the F-35 program has experienced a slew of delays and increased costs. The program cost is currently at over $1.5 trillion, thus making it the most expensive weapons system in all of history. Initial deliveries finally began in late 2015, with all planes scheduled to be delivered by 2037.

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