Pratt & Whitney awarded $3.2B for 233 F-35 engines for U.S., allies

June 3 (UPI) -- Pratt & Whitney has been awarded a $3.2 billion contract to supply 233 propulsion systems for F-35 fighter jets to the United States and allies.

More than half the contract for the F-35 Lightning II engines are for allied militaries, with nearly 150 engines designated for non-Department of Defense participants and foreign military sales customers, the Pentagon announced Friday.

The deal designates 56 F135-PW-100 propulsion systems for the U.S. Air Force, 10 F135-PW-100 for the Navy, 24 F135-PW-600 for the Marine Corps, and 125 F135-PW-100 and 18 F135-PW-600 for non-Department of Defense participants and foreign military sales customers.

Pratt & Whitney, which is a division of United Technologies, will perform 67 percent of the work at its plant in Harford, Conn.; 26.5 percent in Indianapolis and 6.5 percent in Bristol, Britain. Work is expected to be completed by January 2022.

The engines are for the Air Force's F-35A, the Marine Corps' F-35B and the Navy's carrier-based F-35C, in addition to variations of the aircraft flown by foreign militaries.

This modification combines purchases for the Air Force at $619.3 million, the Marine Corps at $627.3 million, for the Navy at $117.6 million, non-DoD participants at $1.2 billion and FMS customers at $640.4 million.

Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement and foreign military sales funds in the amount of $793 million has been obligated at time of award.

More than 320 F-35s have been delivered to the United States and partner nations, according to its primary manufacturer, Lockheed Martin.

The F-35, in addition to the F-22 Raptor, is replacing most of the U.S. military's fighter fleets.

Last September, the U.S. Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin finalized a $15.5 billion contract for production and delivery of 141 F-35s at the lowest per aircraft price in program history: ranging between $89.2 million and $107.7 million for the Air Force, Navy and Marines.

Sales of the F-35 continue as both the U.S. and allies build up their fleets, with Japan most recently announcing it plans to buy 105 more of the aircraft.

The F-35 Lightning II is a single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft with a range of more than 1,350 miles with internal fuel, according to the Air Force. It was introduced to the Air Force in 2016.