Pratt & Whitney’s Matthew Bromberg Briefs Congress on F135 Program Accomplishments, Challenges & Opportunities

Matthew Bromberg, President, Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, participated in a House Armed Services Committee (HASC) joint Readiness & Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee hearing on April 22 regarding the F-35 program. The hearing consisted of two panels of witnesses – the first panel featured Bromberg, Greg Ulmer, Executive Vice President of Aeronautics at Lockheed Martin, and Diana Maurer, Director of Military Structure and Operations Issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The second panel featured Lt. Gen. Eric Fick, F-35 Program Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. David Abba, U.S. Air Force F-35 Integration Office Director, and Maurer.

During his testimony, Bromberg provided an update on the production, sustainment and modernization of Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engine – which powers all three variants of the F-35 Lightning II fighter – since his prior appearance before the HASC in November 2019.

Matthew Bromberg’s opening statement before the HASC joint Readiness & Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee hearing, as prepared for delivery:

Chairman Garamendi, Chairman Norcross, Ranking Member Lamborn, Ranking Member Hartzler, and members of the House Armed Services Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to testify today on behalf of the 37,000 associates at Pratt & Whitney.

Program Accomplishments

Since my last testimony, Pratt & Whitney has had three major accomplishments. First, despite the pandemic, we produced 159 engines in 2020, which was more than contract. Today, there is a buffer of 50 engines at final assembly.

Second, we have qualified 75% of the F135 parts that were sourced from Turkey, and we are on track to complete all transitions by Lot 15. Incidentally, 80% of those parts have been sourced into the United States, creating high paying, important aerospace jobs.

And finally, despite a recent drop in availability, the fleet maintained mission capability above 95%.

Program Challenges

At the same time, we’ve also had several challenges. First, engine deliveries were late to contract, by on average, 15 days. There are two reasons: COVID disruptions and quality findings. The COVID delays are largely behind us, however we need to redouble efforts on production quality. Due to our quality management system, these findings did not impact engine safety or reliability because they were corrected prior to delivery. However, we need to improve quality in order to improve production stability and cost. To that end, we have funded and launched a Quality Improvement Plan that will reduce findings by 40%, improving stability and reducing cost.

Second, we are seeing cost pressures across production and sustainment. Production cost headwind is a result of COVID and Turkey. In response to COVID, Pratt & Whitney took drastic actions to reduce structural costs. However, the timing of an aerospace recovery, and its impact on the supply chain is uncertain. In addition, the directed removal of Turkey from the program will increase engine cost by 3%. Lastly, sustainment costs are increasing as we catch up on sustainment spend, activate the depots and start working more engines.

We recognize that affordability is the most pressing challenge facing the program, and we are committed to reductions. Our successful War on Cost program, which reduced engine costs by 50% through Lot 14, will provide a blueprint to overcome the production headwinds. Sustainment cost reduction can be and will be achieved by leveraging our experience from other programs. In particular, the F119 playbook will help us reduce engine maintenance costs by 50% through health monitoring, repair development, and depot productivity tasks.

Our final challenge is engine availability. While the F135 met mission capability targets, availability declined in 2020 due to a power module shortage. The primary driver was the delayed stand-up of depot capacity, which led to a backlog of depot work. In early 2020, corrective actions were identified, projects funded, and we are making progress. We are on track to double depot output in 2021, and to double it again by 2023.

At the same time, we need to do more to improve availability. While the F135 exceeds reliability targets, continued investment in the Component Improvement Program is critical. Second, the global F135 fleet is spared at less than half of other programs. More spares would ensure higher availability. Finally, sustainment funding has been lower than required. We need to urgently fund additional depots and spares stock.

Program Opportunities

Looking forward, it is time to fund an upgrade program. Even though the F135 is the most capable fighter engine in production, the Joint Strike Fighter is already placing higher demands on the engine than anticipated. In the near future, air vehicle demands for power and thermal management will exceed engine capability. To support future needs, we just completed a roadmap for a low-cost, low-risk spiral engine upgrade program. An upgrade will not only improve warfighter capability, but also provide substantial lifecycle cost reductions.

Closing

In conclusion, we acknowledge and own the current challenges. We are confident that the actions in place will improve delivery, quality and depot production. I see strong enterprise alignment on addressing these challenges and we are committed to keeping the F135 available, capable, and affordable.

Thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you today. My complete testimony has been submitted to the committee for the record, and I look forward to your questions.