F-35 engine battle revs up

As Congress prepares to take critical votes this week on whether to continue with a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Defense Secretary Robert Gates Wednesday made his final appeal to lawmakers to cancel the unwanted engine program and threatened once again to recommend a veto of any defense bill that continues the effort.

Also Wednesday, General Electric Chairman Jeffrey Immelt circulated a letter to House lawmakers in support of the alternate engine, which GE builds with Rolls-Royce Group, and warning that proceeding with only the Pratt & Whitney-built primary engine would create a $100 billion monopoly and eliminate cost discipline.

In his letter to lawmakers, Gates stressed that the $2.9 billion investment needed over the next six years is not worth the potential benefit of having two engine manufacturers for the F-35 program. "While the $2.9 billion cost is real and certain, the benefits of a second engine are not," Gates wrote.

Immelt stressed that having competing engines would save money in the long run -- up to $20 billion over the life of the program. "Taxpayers win big with competition," he wrote.

The two letters underscore the intensity of the ongoing engine war, which heated up as the House and Senate began drafting their versions of the fiscal 2011 defense authorization bills.

The House Armed Services Committee unanimously approved a bill last week that authorizes $485 million for the alternate engine. But the House is expected tomorrow to consider an amendment during floor debate on the bill that would strip that funding.

Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Services Committee is marking up its version of the bill behind closed doors this week.

The alternate engine last year made it out of the Senate committee, despite opposition from Air and Land Forces Subcommittee Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., whose state includes Pratt & Whitney's headquarters. The Senate later overturned the funding for the engine during floor debate, but it was added back in during floor debate.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., supports the alternate engine but acknowledged Tuesday that he may wait to fight the battle during conference rather than risk losing a vote on the floor.

"If it [funding for the alternate engine] stays in after the House consideration, it may be better to not have a negative outcome here going into conference," he said.