The Facts

Cost
Engine Core Upgrade (ECU)

The F135 is the world’s most advanced fighter engine with proven readiness and reliability. The ECU builds upon that same architecture with a fleet-wide upgrade.

XA100 Adaptive Cycle Engine

General Electric’s proposed XA100 Adaptive Cycle Engine makes lofty claims about its capabilities. The reality? It’s unproven and will cost taxpayers billions.

Cost
Effective
  1. Roughly $2 billion in development costs to fully upgrade the engine
  2. Remains production cost neutral by leveraging the existing F135 sustainment network
  3. Saves taxpayers 10s of billions over the F-35 program’s lifetime
Cost
Increase
  1. Nearly $7 billion in development costs for a new engine
  2. Estimated $20 billion added cost to establish a second, duplicative sustainment network to support a new engine (supply chain, parts, staff)
  3. Unproven engine = unproven cost; field learnings will inevitably increase cost to taxpayers
Variant
Common
  1. Supports all three versions of the F-35
  2. Enables joint maintenance and operations
Failed
Commonality
  1. Does not work for all of the services and countries who fly the F-35
  2. Not a single XA100 engine has ever been integrated into any of the F-35 variants
Proven
Performance
  1. 842,000+ recorded flight hours
  2. 1,200+ engines delivered
  3. Nearly 20 years of reliable performance
Theoretical
Performance
  1. Zero flight hours: XA100 has never left the ground
  2. XA100 is significantly heavier, and air vehicle modifications are unknown.

Combat Proven

Improved Sustainment

Lower Costs

Balanced Industrial Base

Adaptable and Ready

Global Footprint

Program Participants

United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Canada, Israel, Japan, Republic of Korea, Belgium, Poland, Singapore, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic

Nations Operating on Home Soil

United States, Italy, Norway, United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, Netherlands, Japan, Republic of Korea, Denmark

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