Pratt & Whitney Military Engines today delivered the 507th and last production F119 engine to the U.S. Air Force for its F-22 Raptor fleet.  The F119 Final Engine Delivery ceremony at the Middletown, Conn. Engine Center was held with representatives from the Air Force, Lockheed Martin and Boeing in attendance. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) company.

“This is a bittersweet occasion for those of us who have played a part in 12 years of successful production deliveries,” said Bennett Croswell, president of Military Engines at Pratt & Whitney. “The F119 production engine program might be ending but we look forward to a 30-40 year sustainment period in partnership with the Air Force to keep the fleet flying.”

The F119-PW-100 turbofan is the world’s first operational fifth-generation fighter engine in service and is providing dependable power for the F-22 Raptor, an aircraft known for its unparalleled maneuverability and its ability to “supercruise.”  The engine, considered one of the Air Force’s most successful, is the forefather of the F135 propulsion system powering the F-35 Lightning II.

As Pratt & Whitney shifts from production to sustainment, the company has partnered with the U.S. Air Force at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center to manage scheduled overhauls of the F119 engine fleet.

“We accept this last production engine today, but are looking forward to our partnership with Pratt & Whitney in sustaining the F119 in the F-22 Raptor for decades to come,” said  Colonel Gregory M. Gutterman, F-22 Program Director, Fighters and Bombers Directorate, Air Force Materiel Command, during today’s ceremony.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.

This release includes “forward looking statements” concerning anticipated business opportunities that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including with regard to the programs described in this release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in forward looking statements include changes in government procurement priorities and practices, budget plans, availability of funding and in the type and number of aircraft in flight operations and hours flown; decisions to award contracts to competing suppliers; and challenges in the design, development, production and support of advanced technologies and services. For information identifying other important economic, political, regulatory, legal, technological, competitive and other uncertainties, see UTC’s 10-K, 10-Q and other reports filed with the SEC.

Source and image: Pratt & Whitney