East Hartford aeroparts manufacturer Pratt & Whitney has received a $2 billion contract from the Pentagon to produce the eleventh installment of F135 engines to power all three models of the F-135 Lightning II jet.
Pratt, a subsidiary of Farmington’s United Technologies Corp., said the defense contract covers 135 engines in addition to program management, engineering supports, production support, spare modules and spare parts.
According to a contract listing by the U.S. Department of Defense, 67 percent of the work will be completed in Pratt’s plants in East Hartford and Middletown.
Deliveries of the low-rate engines will begin this year.
Officials said its latest contract supports ongoing efforts to reduce production costs.
“This agreement for the next lot of F135 engines represents a fair deal for the U.S. Government, the international partnership and industry,” said Vice Admiral Mat Winter, Pratt’s F-35 program executive officer. “Affordability is our number one priority, and by working together, we are making steady progress in reducing F-35 propulsion costs.”
Since 2009, Pratt has slashed its production costs of the F-135 by more than half, officials said.
Pratt has delivered 375 F-135 engines to date. Â
