WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, has reached an agreement in principle with the Pentagon
on a contract to build 39 engines for a sixth batch of F-35 Joint
Strike Fighters, three sources familiar with the deal said on Monday.
The agreement - which Pratt had expected to reach over a
month ago - is valued at more than $1 billion, said the sources, who
were not authorized to speak publicly.
The Pentagon agreed on the terms
of a contract for the sixth and seventh orders of F-35s with Lockheed Martin Corp,
which builds the jets, in late July. The government buys the engines
separately from Pratt & Whitney, which is the sole producer of
engines for the radar-evading warplane.
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[President Dave] Hess told Reuters in June that F-35 engine sales would account for more
than 50 percent of the company's military engine revenue in coming
years, when production ramps up, reaching $2 billion by around 2018.
Hess said that last year, military engine revenue
accounted for about $4 billion of Pratt's total revenue of $14 billion.
Read the rest of the story in Andrea Shalal-Esa's Reuters article on the Hartford Courant's website.
