The U.S. Navy on Friday awarded Pratt & Whitney a contract modification worth up to nearly $2.9 billion. This contract is intended for the production of additional engines for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Pratt & Whitney, which functions as a subsidiary of RTX, is set to produce and deliver 141 F135 engines. These engines will be used in new F-35s for the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, as well as partner nations in the F-35 program and foreign military customers.

The Navy expects Pratt & Whitney to complete these engines by February 2028. The production work will take place across several Pratt facilities located in Connecticut, Indiana, Washington, Maine, and other sites.

These engines will be utilized in the 18th lot of F-35 fighters being constructed by Lockheed Martin, primarily at its facility in Fort Worth, Texas. In December 2024, the Navy awarded Lockheed a contract potentially worth up to $11.8 billion. This contract requires the production and delivery of 145 Lot 18 F-35s by the end of June 2027.

For the procurement of the engines, the Navy is contributing nearly $656 million for the fiscal years 2024 and 2025. Additionally, the Air Force is contributing about $614.6 million, foreign military customers will provide $513.7 million, and non-U.S. participants will contribute $228.5 million.

In a related development, Boeing has received a sole-source Navy deal valued at $315 million to repair landing gears for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter aircraft. This work is expected to take place in locations such as St. Louis, Quebec, Canada, and Fort Walton Beach, Florida, with completion anticipated by September 2029.

Furthermore, on Thursday, the Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $27 million contract modification specifically for the procurement of special tooling and test equipment to support the Joint Strike Fighter program.

The contracting authority for both the Pratt & Whitney and Lockheed Martin contracts is the Naval Air Systems Command located in Patuxent River, Maryland. Meanwhile, the Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support in Philadelphia serves as the contracting authority for the F/A-18 landing gear repair contract.

Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News, having previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, alongside special operations and air warfare for Military.com. He has reported on U.S. Air Force operations during assignments in the Middle East.