{
  "id": "R41131",
  "type": "CRS Report",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
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      "id": 396094,
      "date": "2012-01-10",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T00:20:18.060403",
      "title": "F-35 Alternate Engine Program: Background and Issues for Congress",
      "summary": "On December 2, 2011, General Electric and Rolls-Royce announced that they were ending development of the F136 alternate engine for the F-35, ending what had been a contentious and long-running battle.\nThe alternate engine program began in FY1996, when defense authorization conferees directed DOD to ensure that the JSF (then \u201cJAST\u201d) program \u201cprovides for adequate engine competition\u201d and required the Department of Defense to develop an alternative to the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine that currently powers the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Development of the alternative, the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 engine, was funded in Administration budgets from FY1996 to FY2006. From FY2007 to FY2010, Congress rejected Administration proposals to terminate the program. In FY2011, Congress agreed not to fund the alternate engine, and the alternate engine program was terminated in April 2011. The Administration\u2019s FY2012 budget submission again requested no funds for the program.\nThrough FY2009, Congress provided approximately $2.5 billion for the Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine program. The program is projected to need an additional $1.9 billion-2.9 billion through 2016 to complete the development of the F136 engine.\nCritics of the proposal to terminate the F136 alternate engine argue that termination was driven more by immediate budget pressures on the department than the long-term pros and cons of the F136 program. They argue that engine competition for the F-15 and F-16 saved money and resulted in greater reliability. Some who applaud the proposed termination say that single-source engine production has been the norm, not the exception. Long-term engine affordability, they claim, is best achieved by procuring engines through multiyear contracts from a single source.\nCanceling the F136 engine poses questions on the operational risk\u2014particularly of fleet grounding\u2014posed by having a single engine design and supplier. Additional issues include the potential impact this termination might have on the U.S. defense industrial base and on U.S. relations with key allied countries involved in the alternate engine program. Finally, eliminating competitive market forces for DOD business worth billions of dollars may concern those seeking efficiency from DOD\u2019s acquisition system and raises the challenge of cost control in a single-supplier environment.\nContinuing F136 development raises issues of impact on the overall F-35 acquisition program. It also raises issues of the outyear costs and operational concerns stemming from the requirement to support two different engines in the field.\nFY2012 defense authorization bill: On May 26, 2011, the House passed H.R. 1540, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. H.R. 1540 includes language barring funds from being spent for performance improvements to the F-35\u2019s engine unless the engine is developed and procured competitively, and other language requiring DOD to preserve existing F136 engines and tooling and to allow the contractor to perform research and development on the engine at the contractor\u2019s expense.\nFY2012 DOD appropriations bill: The House Defense Appropriations Committee report included no funds for the F-35 alternate engine.",
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      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc40091/",
      "id": "R41131_2011April20",
      "date": "2011-04-20",
      "retrieved": "2011-08-27T10:13:38",
      "title": "F-35 Alternate Engine Program: Background and Issues for Congress",
      "summary": "This report discusses the past four years of administration proposals to terminate the program to develop the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 engine as an alternative to the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine that currently powers the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). These proposals have been continually rejected by Congress. The Obama Administration's FY2011 budget submission against proposes to terminate the program. This report explores both sides of the termination argument.",
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      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Transportation",
          "name": "Transportation"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Engines",
          "name": "Engines"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Aircraft",
          "name": "Aircraft"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Aircraft engines",
          "name": "Aircraft engines"
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      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc31467/",
      "id": "R41131_2011Jan10",
      "date": "2011-01-10",
      "retrieved": "2011-03-09T09:26:47",
      "title": "F-35 Alternate Engine Program: Background and Issues for Congress",
      "summary": "The administration's proposal to terminate the alternate engine program for the F-35 Lightning II fighter is a significant issue for Congress in FY2012, with implications for the defense budget, military capability in the future, and the division of power between Congress and the executive branch. This report discusses these issues.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Weapons systems",
          "name": "Weapons systems"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Fighter aircraft",
          "name": "Fighter aircraft"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Transportation",
          "name": "Transportation"
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        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Aircraft engines",
          "name": "Aircraft engines"
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        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Defense economics",
          "name": "Defense economics"
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        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Defense budgets",
          "name": "Defense budgets"
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc31353/",
      "id": "R41131_2010Nov10",
      "date": "2010-11-10",
      "retrieved": "2011-03-09T09:26:47",
      "title": "F-35 Alternate Engine Program: Background and Issues for Congress",
      "summary": "This report discusses the past four years of administration proposals to terminate the program to develop the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 engine as an alternative to the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine that currently powers the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). These proposals have been continually rejected by Congress. The Obama Administration's FY2011 budget submission against proposes to terminate the program. This report explores both sides of the termination argument.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
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          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Transportation",
          "name": "Transportation"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Engines",
          "name": "Engines"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Aircraft",
          "name": "Aircraft"
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          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Aircraft engines",
          "name": "Aircraft engines"
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc491550/",
      "id": "R41131_2010Sep17",
      "date": "2010-09-17",
      "retrieved": "2015-01-27T19:40:46",
      "title": "F-35 Alternate Engine Program: Background and Issues for Congress",
      "summary": "This report discusses the past four years of administration proposals to terminate the program to develop the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 engine as an alternative to the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine that currently powers the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). These proposals have been continually rejected by Congress. The Obama Administration's FY2011 budget submission against proposes to terminate the program. This report explores both sides of the termination argument.",
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          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Transportation",
          "name": "Transportation"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Engines",
          "name": "Engines"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Aircraft",
          "name": "Aircraft"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Aircraft engines",
          "name": "Aircraft engines"
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      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501746/",
      "id": "R41131_2010Mar24",
      "date": "2010-05-24",
      "retrieved": "2015-03-30T22:03:27",
      "title": "F-35 Alternate Engine Program: Background and Issues for Congress",
      "summary": "This report discusses the past four years of administration proposals to terminate the program to develop the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 engine as an alternative to the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine that currently powers the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). These proposals have been continually rejected by Congress. The Obama Administration's FY2011 budget submission against proposes to terminate the program. This report explores both sides of the termination argument.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
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          "id": "Transportation",
          "name": "Transportation"
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          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Engines",
          "name": "Engines"
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          "name": "Aircraft"
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc503383/",
      "id": "R41131_2010Mar22",
      "date": "2010-03-22",
      "retrieved": "2015-04-30T17:37:21",
      "title": "F-35 Alternate Engine Program: Background and Issues for Congress",
      "summary": "This report discusses the past four years of administration proposals to terminate the program to develop the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 engine as an alternative to the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine that currently powers the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). This report explores both sides of the termination argument.",
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          "id": "Aircraft",
          "name": "Aircraft"
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          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Aircraft engines",
          "name": "Aircraft engines"
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  "topics": [
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}