Connecticut’s Defense Industry

Rep. Larson speaks with President Marty Marola at Tru-Hitch, Inc.

Across Connecticut and the First Congressional district, tens of thousands of the most dependable workforce in the nation are hard at work manufacturing parts and engines that our national defense depends on. Congressman Larson’s focus is clear: work across the aisle to protect and grow the more than 23,000 jobs and $900 million in investments that the F-35 and F135 provide Connecticut. For over two decades, Rep. Larson has been at the forefront of supporting and defending Connecticut’s manufacturing base.

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, powered by the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine, represents the future of our nation’s air supremacy and a key component to our foreign policy. Not only will the F-35 be the cornerstone of the U.S. fighter fleet, but allies around the world are lining up to purchase this advanced fighter and its Connecticut-built engine.

Here in Connecticut, the work associated with Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engine supports more than 23,000 jobs at Pratt and the small- and medium-sized suppliers that comprise the backbone of our state’s industrial base. This aircraft and its engine are reinvigorating the Connecticut aerospace industry, bringing more than $900 million annually to the state and securing work for our next generation of machinists.

Winning the “Alternate” Engine Debate

Keeping the eagle flying depends on constant vigilance in D.C. Twice, powerful special interests have tried to supplant the Pratt & Whitney engine. If their efforts were to succeed, thousands of jobs would have been lost, Connecticut’s manufacturing, and the economy of the entire state would have been in jeopardy. Rep. Larson stopped them, defeating their efforts in 2011 and 2023.

2011:

In 2001, after a competitive bidding process, the Pentagon selected the F135 engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Despite this, Republican leadership continued to earmark billions of taxpayer dollars for another contractor to build an alternate engine known as the F136. Refusing to let this wasteful spending threaten Connecticut jobs, in 2011, Larson teamed up with Republican Tom Rooney to lead a bipartisan effort to strike funding for the alternative engine in the Fiscal Year 2012 defense spending package and effectively terminate the program. This vote saved taxpayers upwards of $3 billion and locked in $100 billion for the East Hartford-based Pratt & Whitney and its suppliers, protecting thousands of high-skilled manufacturing and engineering jobs in Connecticut.  The vote was named one of fourteen “Key House Votes of 2011.”

2021:

After Air Force officials began entertaining proposals for a new alternative engine rather than committing to F135 modernization, Rep. Larson leapt into action. In 2021, he led the F-35 caucus’s more than 100 bipartisan members to push for funding to modernize the F135 in the face of significant opposition from special interests. In 2022, he led a coalition of Representatives from across the ideological spectrum to strongly advocate for F135 modernization to the Biden Administration. He authored an op-ed in support of this position, and when Lockheed Martin publicly came out in favor of an alternative engine, Rep. Larson sprang into action, coordinating colleagues on both sides of the aisle to apply pressure on Lockheed, resulting in the company issuing a statement reaffirming their deference to the US government’s decision on propulsion modernization.

Throughout the Congressional budget process, Rep. Larson led a coalition of his colleagues, industry leaders, organized labor, and the Biden Administration to fully fund an F135 modernization program known as the Engine Core Upgrade (ECU), worth $722 million. In 2024, he secured language in the annual defense funding bill barring the use of federal funds for an alternative engine, effectively shutting down the latest effort to steal Connecticut jobs.

Defeating the Alternative Engine remains one of Congressman Larson’s most significant accomplishments because of what it means for our state and our skilled manufacturing workforce. Pratt & Whitney, based in East Hartford and Middletown, is now the only engine supplier for the Joint Strike Fighter program. This means that Connecticut’s highly-skilled, highly trained machinist and engineer workforce will continue to work on the military’s most advanced programs for decades to come. Modernizing Pratt & Whitney’s F135 will give our servicemembers the defense capabilities they need as soon as possible, save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars compared to an alternative engine, and protect Connecticut jobs.

The Joint Strike Fighter Caucus

In Congress, Congressman Larson is committed to educating his colleagues on the importance of the F-35 and F135 Joint Strike Fighter program and was honored to be named the Co-Chair of the bipartisan Congressional Joint Strike Fighter Caucus in 2013.

Along with Co-Chairs Reps. Marc Veasey, Mike Turner, and John Rutherford, John Larson is working hard to ensure that members of Congress have a full understanding of the important role the F-35 and F135 play in national security and the impact that any changes to the program can have on our readiness and our industrial base.

Supporting Our Home-Grown Manufacturing

Rep. Larson at the ribbon cutting for the expansion of CCAT’s Advanced Manufacturing Center.

For his entire career, Rep. Larson has been focused on growing our manufacturing base by ensuring the state maintains our expertise and workforce.

In 2002, Rep. Larson secured $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Air Force to form the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT), a national center of excellence in science and technology research and development. In 2004, Rep. Larson secured $24 million in federal funding to create a national center for aerospace leadership, providing the funding necessary to fully establish the East Hartford based non-profit.

Thanks to this funding, CCAT is at the forefront of ensuring that our manufacturing legacy continues into the 21^st Century, administering programs that include training Connecticut university faculty in modern manufacturing, providing training and technical expertise in next-generation digital technologies for Connecticut industry and providing financial assistance to companies striving to meet federal cybersecurity requirements. Last year alone, over 14,000 individuals participated in a CCAT program.

In late 2012 Congressman John Larson convened a leadership meeting among Goodwin University, The International Association of Machinists (IAM), Pratt & Whitney and the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) to discuss how to ensure Connecticut’s manufacturing workforce remained strong. As a result of that meeting, the group worked together to develop the Goodwin Manufacturing Program, now offering degrees and certificates for programs that are in demand from Connecticut’s leading manufacturers.

In 2014, then-Vice President Biden visited Goodwin to praise the program’s success.

Rep. Larson has continued to bring home federal resources to support jobs and innovation including:

$17 million for CCAT’s new, start-of-the-art facility.

$1.85 million for a Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program grant to help provide technical assistance support to 2,000 small and medium sized Connecticut manufacturing companies.