Dayton Business Journal...
GE cuts funding for F-35 fighter jet engine
Friday, December 2, 2011 

General Electric and Rolls-Royce will cut off funding for development of the F136 engine designed to be an alternate for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. 

The decision, reached jointly by GE Aviation and Rolls-Royce, is a result of continued uncertainty in the development and production schedules of the joint strike fighter program. 

“GE and Rolls-Royce are proud of our technology advancements and accomplishments on the F136,” Dan McCormick, president of the FET, said in a news release. “However, difficult circumstances are converging that impact the potential benefit of a self-funded development effort.” 

The Department of Defense terminated the program this past April, with the F136 engine development about 80 percent complete. GE Rolls-Royce FET had offered to self-fund development through 2012, but will now end its development work. 

A rival group lead by United Technologies Corp. and Pratt & Whitney make the current F-35 engine. 

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) is developing the F-35 with Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) and BAE Systems, all three of which have operations in the Dayton region that support Wright-Patterson Air Force Base    . 

The Dayton region is closely tied to the F-35 program through Wright-Patt as well as through local companies doing work on the program. Vector Composites Inc. in Dayton has a contract to supply parts to the F-35. 

Many of the high-profile acquisitions projects are handled out of Wright-Patt, which has operations that support such projects as the F-35 and the F-22. 

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