GE (GE) Still Trying to Resurrect F-35 Engine Funding

General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) said it will seek to restore funding for its alternate Joint Strike Fighter engine, which was labeled a waste of money when the U.S. House of Representatives voted to kill the program.

Having a competitor to the primary engine made by United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney unit would save $20 billion over time, Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt said today in a memo to employees, repeating an estimate from the Government Accountability Office.

The vote to eliminate $450 million in engine funds for the fiscal year through Sept. 30 occurred in “the midst of an important fiscal debate,” Immelt wrote. “The JSF funding decision received significant scrutiny and was miscast as an ‘earmark’ on wasteful spending.”

President Barack Obama’s administration has sought to cancel the engine for the F-35, the stealth fighter made by Lockheed Martin Corp. Last week’s vote was the first by the House in more than four years against the engine, which is being developed by GE and Rolls-Royce Group Plc.





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