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Engines of F-35 Jets to Be Produced In Turkey

12 August 2010 04:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Turkish State Minister for foreign trade Zafer Caglayan said Tuesday that engines of F-35 Lightning II jets would be produced in Turkey, APA reports quoting turkishny.com web-page.
Caglayan told the media during a press conference promoting the upcoming equipment expo of the Turkish Armed Forces in Ankara Tuesday, that Pratt & Whitney --which makes the F135 jet engines for the Joint Striker Programme-- would jointly open a factory in Turkey with Turkey’s Kale group.
Caglayan said Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies making jet engines for F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, as well as the C-17 Globemaster III military transport, took a decision to invest in Turkey during a recent visit of his to the U.S..
He said Pratt & Whitney and Kale Group would start producing the F135 engines for the F-35 jets in a joint investment, majority of which would be undertaken by Kale Group.
Caglayan said the engines which would initially be partially produced in Turkey, would be entirely produced in Turkey in the future.
Caglayan also said United Technologies was planning to open a Sikorsky factory in Turkey and was currently making feasibility studies jointly with Turkish corporations. He said Turkey would export all the production to be made in such a factory.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation, single-seat, single-engine stealth multirole fighter that can perform close air support, tactical bombing, and air defense missions.
The F-35 has three different models; one is a conventional takeoff and landing variant, the second is a short take off and vertical-landing variant, and the third is a carrier-based variant.
The F-35 is descended from the X-35, the product of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. Its development is being principally funded by the United States, with the United Kingdom and other partner governments including Turkey providing additional funding.
It is being designed and built by an aerospace industry team led by Lockheed Martin with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems as major partners.
The Pratt & Whitney (F135 engine) and the GE Rolls-Royce (F136) Fighter Engine Team builds engines that are physically and functionally interchangeable across all F-35 aircraft.