U.S. House readies for battle over fighter engine
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Reuters
Andrea Shalal-Esa
05/24/2010
General Electric Co (GE.N) and Britain's Rolls Royce (RR.L) on Monday stepped up a drive to safeguard their alternate F-35 fighter engine as lawmakers introduced an amendment that would cut $485 million of funding for the embattled program in fiscal year 2011.The U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, defying the Pentagon's plans to scrap the second engine for a fourth straight year, included the money in its version of a defense spending bill for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.But several lawmakers who back the main F-35 fighter engine -- which is built by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp (UTX.N) -- on Monday introduced an amendment that would strip the funding back out of the bill.The two sides will face off on Thursday over a fighter engine market valued at about $100 billion when the House votes on the defense spending bill. The debate underscores massive resistance to Defense Secretary Robert Gates' plans to cancel programs and tamp down healthcare and personnel costs."Congress and the White House are just not in synch on this," said Chris Hellman, with the nonprofit National Priorities Project. He said defense companies were fighting hard to hang on to lucrative contracts, while lawmakers were eager to protect high-paying jobs in their home districts."What Secretary Gates is learning is that federal legislators care much more about the jobs in their districts than they do about the common good," said Loren Thompson, defense analyst with the Virginia-based Lexington Institute.Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and eight partner countries are developing the F-35 fighter at a total cost of $300 billion, the largest weapons program ever."GROSS WASTE OF MONEY"Representative Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine, which is home to a Pratt facility, said she had 15 co-sponsors for an amendment that would remove funding for the GE-Rolls engine."This project is a gross waste of money. There is no reason to spend a half-billion dollars building a new engine from scratch when we already have one that is built efficiently and performs exceptionally," she said.Gates on Thursday again told lawmakers that he would strongly recommend that President Barack Obama veto the bill if it included funding for the GE-Rolls engine. But backers of the second engine say investment now will save money in the long run by maintaining competition, while guarding against fleetwide groundings.
