RTX’s Pratt & Whitney division receives $701M aircraft contract

Arlington-based defense giant RTX’s Pratt & Whitney aerospace division in Connecticut will provide sustainment and other support services for propulsion systems on the F-35 fighter jet under a $701 million modification to a Navy contract.

Pratt & Whitney will provide program management, propulsion integration, engineering, management services, software sustainment, security management and spare parts for the program, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The contract also calls for continued work, including data updates, training and depot level maintenance and repair on F-35 propulsion systems at production sites and operational locations across the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, as well as for foreign military customers. Work is expected to be completed in May 2024.

The F-35 is the military’s next generation fighter and includes three variations. The F-35A is a conventional takeoff and landing variant for the Air Force; the F-35B is the Marine Corps’ short takeoff/vertical landing variant, and the F-35C is the Navy’s aircraft carrier variant. The single-engine stealth fighter will replace the Air Force’s A-10 and F-16, the Navy’s F/A-18 and the Marines’ AV-8B Harrier jets, as well as the service’s F/A-18s.

RTX, which announced its rebranding from Raytheon Technologies in June, reported a nearly $1 billion loss in its Pratt & Whitney division in its third quarter 2023 results. That loss resulted from of a powder metal defect that could cause engine parts to crack and will require the grounding of 350 jets per year through 2026.

RTX announced its move to Arlington County, from Massachusetts, in June 2022. The company employs more than 180,000 people globally.