McKeon ‘disappointed’ GE and Rolls-Royce not funding second F-35 engine

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said the decision by General Electric and Rolls-Royce to stop funding a second engine for the F-35 fighter is “just the beginning in a wave of cost-cutting” for the Pentagon and defense industry.

“I am disappointed that the uncertainty regarding the future of our military budget, and the Joint Strike Fighter program in particular, have forced GE and Rolls-Royce to discontinue self-funded development for a competitive engine for the F-35,” McKeon said in a news release. “This development is a blow to common-sense acquisition reform at the Department of Defense.”

McKeon connected the second engine’s demise to the potential for $600 billion in automatic cuts through sequestration in January 2013, warning against waiting a full year before changing the automatic cuts.

“Decisions that could cripple our national security and our economy are being made today that will be difficult, if not impossible, to undo tomorrow,” he said.

Funding for the second engine was not included in the 2012 Defense authorization bill that passed the Senate on Thursday, nor in the House version. The Pentagon has also suggested jettisoning the program.

McKeon said he will propose legislation that would undo sequestration cuts to the Defense budget.

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