Connecticut’s Defense Industry

Yankee Ingenuity and a tradition of manufacturing expertise have - for generations - positioned Connecticut as a leader in defense manufacturing. Thousands of Connecticut residents work on programs associated with protecting our democracy and tens of thousands more are affected by the work that occurs across our state.  

Congressman Larson is a champion for Connecticut manufacturing and is focused on working with both sides of the aisle to protect our state’s jobs. 

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 and providing work for our next generation of machinists bringing more than $900 million annually to the state.      

The F135 is a technological marvel. With more than half a million combined flight hours, it has proven to be the safest fighter engine in military aviation history. It delivers unmatched and reliable capability to our warfighters and helped to generate interest in the F-35 program from countries across the world, including Germany, Switzerland, Finland, and the Czech Republic in the last few years alone.   

For years, however, there have been efforts to replace the F135 with a costly and risky alternative engine. Congressman Larson has been at the forefront of the fight to beat back these efforts and protect Connecticut manufacturing, first in 2011 and again in 2023. 

In 2001, after a competitive bidding process, the Pentagon selected the F135 engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Although most military aircraft don’t require an alternative engine, Republican leadership continued to earmark billions of dollars for another contractor to build an alternate engine known as the F136. In 2011, Larson teamed up with Congressman Tom Rooney to strike funding for the alternative engine for the F-35 in the Fiscal Year 2012 defense spending package. 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.  Passing the House with vast bipartisan support, the vote was named one of fourteen “Key House Votes of 2011.”  

In 2021, Rep. Larson again mobilized to protect Pratt & Whitney’s role as the sole supplier of the F135 engine, ultimately winning a second engine fight and protecting East Hartford and Connecticut jobs.  

After Air Force officials began public discussions of a new alternative engine rather than committing to F135 modernization, Rep. Larson leapt into action. In 2021, he led the caucus’ more than 100 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.  

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. 

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.