September 21, 2010 - The Pratt & Whitney F135 engine has surpassed 19,000 hours and the Short Take Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant is in the final stages of testing prior to receiving Initial Service Release Certification from the U.S. government later this year.

Both of these significant program milestones continue the long list of accomplishments achieved by the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine this year. ?The F135 journey continues and I am very pleased with the progress we?ve made this year,? said Bennett Croswell, vice president of F119/F135 engine programs.

?I?ve been involved with this program since concept demonstration, and when I look back on the last 10 years, the accomplishments we?ve seen, the history we?ve made powering the first ever supersonic, stealthy military jet capable of vertical lift operations, I could not be prouder to be a part of this propulsion team.?

Pratt & Whitney has delivered all 29 test engines as well as 9 production F135 engines to the customer. The engine has successfully powered more than 350 F-35 flights including several vertical lift operations accumulating nearly 500 flight test hours. Also this year the F135 powered the F-35 STOVL variant through supersonic flight and the first production F135 engine has been installed in a production F-35.

Pratt & Whitney has designed, developed and tested the F135 to deliver the most advanced fifth generation fighter engine for the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, as well as eight international partner countries. The F135 is derived from proven technology of the only operational fifth generation fighter engine, the Pratt & Whitney F119. The F119 recently completed 8,650 total accumulated cycles, or TACs, representing the first time a fifth generation fighter engine has demonstrated the ability to meet full life requirements. The F135 has been further enhanced with technologies developed in several Air Force and Navy technology programs.

The F135 is the only engine powering the F-35 Lightning II flight test program. The F135 propulsion system has proven it can meet diverse aircraft requirements, and the ground and flight test experience demonstrates the maturity and the associated reliability of the F135 engine for armed forces around the world.