U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio says Defense Secretary Robert Gates has assured him that funding will continue for an alternate engine for the Pentagon’s next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet — good news for engine builder General Electric Co. in Fairfield, The Associated Press reports.
Brown and fellow Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Patrick Leahy of Vermont had sent a letter to Gates last week stating that Congress intended to fund the engine program through March 4, despite the Pentagon’s opposition to it.
The engine is being developed by a GE unit in Evendale outside Cincinnati. GE makes the engine with London-based Rolls-Royce.
The Obama administration has said spending on a second engine is unnecessary and impedes the progress of the Joint Strike Fighter program.
