A fight over fighter engines for F-35

The Hill:

The White House is threatening to veto the 2010 defense policy bill if it authorizes funding for a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

As the House is preparing to take up the 2010 defense authorization bill, the Office of Management and Budget issued a statement of administration policy stating that the president’s senior advisers would recommend a veto if the final bill “would seriously disrupt the F-35 program.”

The Pentagon strongly objects to the alternative engine produced by General Electric and Rolls Royce. The primary engine is produced by Pratt & Whitney. One of the main reasons for the administration’s opposition to the congressional funding of the second engine is because lawmakers traditionally cut funding for a few F-35s to find the funding necessary for the alternative engine.

The Obama administration also opposes any funding additions to Lockheed Martin's F-22 program.

This year defense authorizers cut two planes from the Pentagon’s request and authorized $603 million for the GE-Rolls Royce engine.

“These changes will delay the fielding of the Joint Strike Fighter capability and capacity, adversely impacting the Department's overall strike fighter inventory,” OMB wrote in its statement of administration policy. “In addition, the administration objects to provisions of the bill that mandate an alternative engine program for the JSF.”

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The “engine wars” started after several fiascos with the F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, which relied on one engine. As a consequence, Congress started an alternative fighter-engine program that provided funding for rival companies to produce engines for the same planes. One company receives a certain percentage of the engine contract and the other one the rest.

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The savings from having an additional engine are pretty long term. I am surprised there are any savings when you consider the additional maintenance necessary in supplying and training for two engines. One of the reasons Southwest Airlines has a competitive edge over other airlines is they only fly one aircraft design, the Boeing 737. That means they only have to train their maintenance crews to take care of one system.