The Pentagon is killing the alternate engine program for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in the fiscal 2010 defense budget request. The move ends funding for the F136 General Electric/Rolls-Royce engine, leaving funding only for Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engine. But lawmakers have restored funding every time the Pentagon has sought to cut it in the past. (Source: Aviation Week, 05/07/09) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will become home to the Joint Strike Fighter Training Center.
