Pratt & Whitney Goes Global for JSF Engine Bearings

Pratt & Whitney Goes Global for JSF Engine Bearings Pratt & Whitney signed deals June 18 with Italian and Australian firms at le Bourget for the supply of bearings and related components for engines it is building for the Joint Strike Fighter. The firm signed three separate agreements with Italy¡¯s Piaggio Aero for the supply of No. 4 bearing components for the JSF engine. Piaggio Aero has already delivered its first production bearing housings for the aircraft engine, with all deals totaling a potential value of $144 million over the life of the program. Piaggio Aero has received JSF engine work in Italy alongside larger firm Fiat Avio, whose working relationship with Pratt & Whitney was initially complicated by its long-standing ties to rival General Electric, Italian industrial sources said. Pratt & Whitney also signed at the Paris Air Show to acquire bearing components from Australian firm Production Parts and signed a letter of intent with the firm for work on the No. 4 bearing inner air seal. The deals signed with Production Parts have a potential value of $30 million over the life of the program, Pratt & Whitney said in a statement.