In Lynn, Massachusetts, nearly 2,000 IUE-CWA members support their families building a fighter engine crucial to our national defense and which provides long term Pentagon budget savings. The plant has historic significance -- producing quality goods for Americans since 1882.
The plant, operated by General Electric (GE) produces the jet engine for the all-American Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) known as the F-135. The JSF is a multi-role, single engine fighter being developed to become the single fighter for the armed forces. It will replace a range of aircraft including the A-10, the F-14, the F-16, the AV-8B Harrier, the Sea Harrier, and the F/A- 18. The JSF program is the Department of Defense’s (DOD) focal point for defining affordable next generation strike aircraft weapons system for the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force, and all of our allies. A safe, responsive, and dependable engine design and manufacture is therefore critical for the defense of our nation, and the men and women at the GE plant in Lynn, MA work in competition with Pratt & Whitney on an alternative engine.
At issue is whether to continue producing two engines. Some argue the program is Pentagon waste, while in truth competitive engine programs have saved 20% of projected costs over the life of their engines. Further the IUE-CWA produced engine has come in below costs and exceeds quality testing. GE also has offed a “fixed” price contract.
Engine competition saves money. The “engine wars” started when several systematic problems arose with the F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, which also relied on a single engine. Congress took needed action, and started an alternative fighter-engine program that provided funding for rival companies to produce engines for the same planes. One company receives a certain percentage of the engine contract and another one the rest. The alternative program worked wonders, building a new, more reliable and safe aircraft engine while cutting production costs dramatically in both the long and short run. The same beneficial effects are expected here, as production of the alternative JSF engine uses market forces to ensure that our new strike fighter fleets are the best possible quality- Americans deserve no less. Unfortunately, the Secretary of Defense has railed against this concept leaving it to the House and Senate to protect competition and save taxpayers money, while ironically the DOD argues against “waste.”
In the current fiscal climate, another critical benefit to the alternative JSF engine production becomes the immense savings it offers the taxpayer. An analysis published by the General Accounting Office (GAO) says that the F-15/F-16 “engine wars” saved 21 percent on the cost of the engine. The GAO additionally stated that if the savings this time amounts to half of what was saved on the F-16, dual-sourcing will be cost neutral. So far, the GE Rolls Royce program has been ahead of deadlines and below the cost at every check point. The Pratt engine, on the other hand, already experienced $1.9 billion in cost overruns, forcing the DOD to send a team into Pratt to investigate and indentify the problems.
Finally, the government has already spent $2.5 billion on the development of this GE F-136 engine, and 80 percent of allocated funds have already been spent. Now is not the time to end this program. If we stop now, when $850 million is needed to complete the program, we will have wasted $2.5 billion dollars just when the savings were about to kick into full gear.
The second engine by Pratt & Whitney is inferior. The failures of the Pratt & Whitney test program are evidence enough to reveal the magnitude of continuing funding for alternative engine production. In August, 2007, a Pratt & Whitney engine running at a test facility experienced failures in the low-pressure turbine blade which caused stoppage of all engine activity. In February, 2008, the failure occurred again in another engine. If these failures persisted upon adoption of the Pratt & Whitney product, the United States military could experience a single point systematic failure. General Electric/ Rolls Royce’s’ alternative engine would alleviate this jarring risk. Meanwhile, the GE/Rolls Royce engine has come in below cost, exceeded quality expectations, and has been offered at a fixed price contract as opposed to cost plus.
General Electric employs thousands of highly skilled and technical IUE-CWA members, earning their living building this competitive engine. Eliminating this program would force them into unemployment and deeper financial crisis. It would also decimate the number of these highly skilled and technical workers that this country needs to compete in the global economy. Continuation of the F 136 dual engine program makes economic sense and protects CWA jobs.
