Acquisition Reform in Action
Pratt & Whitney (P&W) recently announced initiatives to reduce costs
of its F135 engine for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and indicated
it was willing to offer a fixed-price proposal for 37 Lot 4 engines.
As the chronology below shows, these actions demonstrate how
competition drives and accelerates true acquisition reform
May 22
The Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 was signed into law to mandate competition through the entire life of major defense programs – including funding competing sources.
May 24
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), citing a 21% savings from the long-term F-16 engine competition, concludes that competing JSF engines could also yield similar savings. The GAO estimates that the GE / Rolls-Royce F136 competitive engine could pay for itself by producing a 9 to 11% savings.
June 17
The House Armed Services Committee reports the P&W F135 engine development is $1.87 billion over plan with an increase of 38 to 43 percent in F135 procurement cost estimates between 2005 and 2008.
July 30
The U.S. House of Representatives, citing the reform act, votes 400 to 30 for a defense spending bill that includes funding for the GE/RR F136 competitive engine.
July 31
The JSF Joint Program Office (JPO) discloses to the Under Secretary of Defense that P&W F135 costs are “outside the bounds of Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) projects.”
Aug
The Under Secretary of Defense creates the independent Joint Assessment Team to analyze and develop a plan to address the P&W F135’s escalating costs.
Sep 1
To drive engine competition and predictable costs, GE/RR submits a unique fixed-price approach to the JPO for initial production F136 competitive engines – shifting cost risk from taxpayers to GE/RR.
Sep 15
P&W announces that it continues to realize production cost reduction benefits, and has offered to provide the JPO with a firm fixed-price proposal for the F135 engine if requested. P&W says the same methodology they used to achieve a 30% cost reduction on the F119 engine is being employed on the F135 engine.
Sep 28
At the request of the Department of Defense and following up on earlier discussions, the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team submits a firm fixed-price contract proposal to the Joint Strike Fighter Program office involving early production JSF F136 engines.
Tell Congress you support
the F136 engine program.
About the Programs
The JSF and the F136 
Case for the F136
The F136 is vital to national defense. 
Facts
The truth behind the F136. 
Public Record
Public accounts of support for the F136. 
Opinions
Influential people are talking. 