How much do you want to bet that somehow money will find its way back into the final bill for GE’s engine? And, hey, I know, let’s pay Boeing for an alternate airframe too! (CAL)
It probably wont mean much in the long run, but the Senate voted today to approve an amendment by Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), long-time opponent of the F-136, to strip $438.9 million for the second F-35 engine.
It will be difficult to prove, but I bet this was one of those trades that were worked out before the vote to kill the F-22. Sen. John McCain supported Liebermans amendment and it was approved by voice vote not a roll call vote, which would have left a very clear trail for everyone to follow. While this may be portrayed as another victory for the Obama administration, which has threatened to veto the defense authorization bill should it include the F-136 funding, I think the Obama administrations position is secondary to any deals that were worked out before the F-22 vote.
The amendment would hold up the funding until the defense secretary tells Congress that building the F-136 would lead to lower program costs, improve the planes readiness and not disrupt the programs development or result in fewer fighters.
McCain and Lieberman are very close and work together almost as well as the Arizona senator worked with the recently departed John Warner of Virginia. And McCain led the fight against the F-22, which Lieberman supported mightily.
The reason I think this probably wont amount to much is that it was approved by voice vote and the House Armed Services Committee negotiators will note this during the conference discussions. Also, the appropriators are almost certain to include money for the F-136 program in their bill. Unless some deals we dont know about yet were worked out during the authorization vote.
President Obama had threatened to veto the bill over the provision authorizing $439 million for the backup engine if he believes it would seriously disrupt the overall program.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
“Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), long-time opponent of the F-136″
Gee why does he oppose it? Could it be because Pratt and Whitney is based in Connecticut?
ahhhh c’mon guys… everyone here knows that 200 F-22 can defend thousands and thousands and thousands of killometers of USA!
Here’s my only question about the F-136 engine. What benefits did it offer besides having another engine that could be used in the F-35?
If thats the only benefit then in my opinion its not worth it. It doubles your logistics footprint automatically. You will have a second engine which will need to have its own supply of spare parts. You will need to train your ground crews to work on 2 separate engines as well. So what benefits did the F-136 offer that would make it such a good engine to have as a secondary engine?
Ed:
The same reasons there are two engines used in F-16′s (GE and Pratt).
The sole-engine provider became arrogant and unresponsive to the USAF, behaving just like a monopoly would behave. Long standing maintenance and design issues went unresolved until the USAF demanded an alternate engine.
Didn’t we learn this lesson with the F-14?
dude Obama dont you have better things to do? Veto a DoD Bill cause if has 1,7 billion for Raptors and around 500 million for F136.
Dude really? Nothing better to do? Or can you messiahs transform that 2,3 billion into 2,3 trillion for stimulus money?
What is your muddled point Prometheus?
I guess we will know if a new tech jet with a single manufacturer new tech engine starts lawn daring at a disturbing rate at $180+ million per airframe.
gsak, please correct if I’m wrong, but this is a dif issue than the F-14. Both F136 and F135 are about 177-178 kN engines .. so the F-35 is not underpowered w/ its current powerplant.
I think the prob w/ the F-14 was that its original turbofans (TF30s vs F110s) were underpowered..
Is there some detail I’m missing?
@ CR
my point is that that the president makes such a big deal out of the nothingness that is 2,3 billion.
Especial when at the same time trillions and trillions of dollars are spend everywhere else.
Fao Ed
The F136 offers greater growth potential than the F135 as it has a larger core and better technological advances eg aerofoils design etc. A larger core is beneficial should extra power be required on STOVL airframes or LM somehow do not meet their weight targets.
Living in the UK i struggle to comprehend the workings of all these different commitees you have there.
The biggest question is that the JSF is replacing many different aircraft, what happens with a single engine fighter if there is a common design flaw and the fleet is grounded?
The TF30 caused some fatalities, and was generally unreliable, sadly.
Then there’s the minor issue that the auditors at the Government Accountability Office have reiterated, several times, that they expect the 2nd engine program to save money over the long term, and create incentives for improved performance, just as it has with the F-16 and F-15 fleets.
Where is F135 maker Pratt & Whitney located? Where is Joe Lieberman located? I don’t think you need to explain his vote by reference to McCain.
But it would be wise to wonder what it means to give P&W the sole keys to a multinational fighter fleet – and to that fleet’s engine maintenance for the ext 50 years. And what it might be worth to a corporation to lobby for that.