RTX Awarded $1.3 Billion Navy Deal for F-35 Engine Spares

The Pentagon awarded Pratt and Whitney a $1.3 billion modification to supply F135 propulsion spares for the F-35 fleet across U.S. and allied forces, with work running through December 2030.

First Published: July 30, 2026, 1:28 PM ET

EAST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — RTX Corp.‘s Pratt and Whitney unit received a nearly $1.3 billion Navy modification to supply engine spares for the F-35 fighter fleet.

The award, worth $1.29 billion, adds scope to a firm-fixed-price contract for initial spares for the F135 propulsion system, as announced on war.gov. It covers depot and common spares for the F-35 global spares pool. The deal supports the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, non-Defense Department participants, Cooperative Program Partners, and Foreign Military Sales customers.

“RTX maintains leadership in radar, sensors and precision weapons, supported by decades of R&D,” DBS analysts wrote in an equities note, describing the aftermarket engine business as a source of recurring cash flow, according to dbs.com.sg.

The modification ranks as the largest contract ever awarded to Pratt and Whitney Military Engines, surpassing the unit’s prior record of $9,923,932, according to war.gov. It marks the company’s first Defense Department contract of 2026 and the third such award placed in Connecticut this year.

RTX, the aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, reported revenue of $88.6 billion in 2025 and employs 180,000 people, according to leanrs.com. The Pratt and Whitney segment designs and manufactures aircraft engines for commercial, military, business jet, and general aviation customers, according to leanrs.com. RTX reported a record backlog of $271 billion in the first quarter of 2026, split between $162 billion in commercial orders and $109 billion in defense orders, according to dbs.com.sg.

The F135 powers every variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the most widely fielded fifth-generation combat jet among the United States and its allies. Steady spare-parts supply keeps those aircraft flying and props up the aftermarket revenue stream that analysts prize. The stakes reach beyond the Pentagon, since the global spares pool serves partner nations and Foreign Military Sales customers who depend on the same supply chain.

Most of the work lands in Connecticut. East Hartford accounts for 59.6% of the effort, Middletown 16.7%, and Windsor 7.5%. Additional work runs through North Berwick, Maine, Red Oak, Texas, Kent, Washington, and other sites across the continental United States. The contract runs through December 2030.

The contract translates into sustained employment at engine plants concentrated in New England, where thousands of workers build and repair the machinery that keeps military aircraft aloft. The award obligated no funds at signing, and money attaches to individual orders as the Navy issues them.

Large F135 sustainment awards have happened before. Pratt and Whitney has held the F135 production and support franchise since the program’s inception, and the company has repeatedly secured spares and depot work as the fleet expanded. This award extends that pattern rather than breaking it.

Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity and will direct future orders under the modified contract. A date for the next individual order has not been announced.

Engine makers have long anchored Connecticut’s industrial economy, as happened before. Pratt and Whitney, founded in Hartford in 1925, built the piston engines that powered American aircraft through World War II, according to fidelity.com. Its factories produced tens of thousands of engines during the 1940s, cementing the region as a hub of aviation manufacturing. That legacy carried the company into the jet age and positioned it to power the F-35 decades later.

This contract represents the 1st contract awarded to RTX Corp., Pratt and Whitney Military Engines, in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $1,295,745,898. It is also the 3rd Department of Defense contract awarded in Connecticut during 2026. This is the largest contract ever awarded to RTX Corp., Pratt and Whitney Military Engines, surpassing the company’s previous record of $9,923,932, and it is notable within the Navy portfolio. Specifically, it is both the largest and smallest Navy contract awarded in 2026, at $1,295,745,898. Overall, this award was announced among 7 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on July 30, 2026.