https://www.dau.edu
Col James Rodriguez, USAF
In the 1980s, the Air Force oversaw a period of engine development that author Robert Drewes coined, “The Great Engine War.” The fierce competition between Pratt & Whitney (P&W) and General Electric (GE) yielded two world-class fighter engines, an energized competitive industrial base, and significant cost savings. When the Air Force competed engines for the Advanced Tactical Fighter, the engine war continued; however, it did not progress beyond the fly-off. After a pause, the Great Engine War appeared ready for restart when Congress pushed for a Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program dual-source approach. However, the battle between GE and P&W for the JSF engine was short-lived as budget constraints forced the DoD termination of GE’s F136 engine program. Recognizing the need for continued propulsion research and development, the DoD then initiated the next potential Great Engine War, a series of technology development programs to develop a new generation of adaptive engines. As the Air Force seeks to field adaptive engines in future platforms, it must reflect on the lessons of the Great Engine Wars to ensure a healthy, technologically advanced, and agile fighter engine industrial base remains postured to win the coming Great Power Competition.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22594/dau.24-928.32.02 Keywords: F-35, propulsion, adaptive, competition, acquisition
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Defense ARJ , Summer 2025, Vol. 32 No. 2: 104—130
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