Pratt & Whitney is a business unit of aerospace
conglomerate RTX Corporation, making it a sister company to
Collins Aerospace and
Raytheon. It is also involved in two major joint ventures, the
Engine Alliance with GE which manufactures engines for the Airbus A380, and
International Aero Engines company with
Rolls-Royce,
MTU Aero Engines, and the
Japanese Aero Engines Corporation which manufactures engines for the Airbus A320 and the McDonnell Douglas MD-90 aircraft.
Commercial engines Pratt & Whitney's large commercial engines power more than 25 percent of the world's passenger aircraft fleet and serve more than 800 customers in 160 countries. With over 16,000 large commercial engines installed today, Pratt & Whitney provides power to hundreds of airlines and operators, from narrow-bodied airplanes to wide-bodied jumbo jetliners. In June 2007, Pratt & Whitney's fleet of large commercial engines surpassed 1 billion flight hours of service.
Global Material Solutions Pratt & Whitney's Global Material Solutions (GMS) makes parts for the
CFM56 engine thus giving customers an alternative in new CFM56 engine materials. In addition to engine parts, GMS provides customers with fleet management and customized maintenance service programs. United Airlines was the GMS launch customer. GMS received its first part certification in July 2007, when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted Parts Manufacturing Approval (PMA) certification for the GMS high-pressure turbine (HPT) shroud for the CFM56-3 engine. In March 2008, the FAA certified the GMS fan and booster with a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) with FAA Chapter 5 life limits equal to the original type certificate holder. The STC was the first FAA certification ever granted for alternative life-limited engine parts. In May 2008, Global Material Solutions received FAA STCs for its remaining life limited parts for CFM56-3 engines.
Global Service Partners Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners (GSP) offers overhaul, maintenance and repair services for Pratt & Whitney, International Aero Engines, General Electric, Rolls-Royce, and CFMI engines. In addition to engine overhaul and repair services, GSP provides services including line maintenance, engine monitoring and diagnostics, environmentally friendly on-wing water washes, leased engines, custom engine service programs and new and repaired parts. Pratt & Whitney maintains one of the largest service center networks in the world, with more than 40 engine overhaul and maintenance centers located around the globe. The Global Service Partners includes Japan Turbine Technologies (JTT). JTT started in 2000 as a joint venture between Pratt and
Japan Airlines, with Japan Airlines owning 33.4 percent of the venture, and Pratt & Whitney owning the rest. In July 2011 Pratt bought out Japan Airlines' share in the venture. The facility is located in the town of
Taiei near the city of
Narita in the
Chiba Prefecture and it primarily repairs
V2500,
JT8D engine parts.
Military Engines Pratt & Whitney's Military Engines power 27 air forces around the globe, with nearly 11,000 military engines in service with 23 customers in 22 nations. Pratt & Whitney military engines include the
F135 for the
F-35 Lightning II, the
F119 for the
F-22 Raptor, the
F100 family that powers the
F-15 Eagle and
F-16 Falcon, the
F117 for the
C-17 Globemaster III, the
J52 for the
EA-6B Prowler, the
TF33 powering
E-3 AWACS,
E-8 Joint STARS,
B-52, and
KC-135 aircraft, and the
TF30 for the
F-111 and
F-14A. In addition, Pratt & Whitney offers a global network of maintenance, repair, and overhaul facilities and military aviation service centers focused on maintaining engine readiness for their customers.
Pratt & Whitney Canada Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC), originally Canadian Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company, and later United Aircraft of Canada, provides a large range of products, including turbofan, turboprop and turboshaft engines targeted for the regional, business, utility and military aircraft and helicopter markets. The company also designs and manufactures engines for auxiliary power units and industrial applications. Its headquarters are located in
Longueuil,
Quebec (just outside
Montreal). Speaking to Reuters June 16, 2013, ahead of the Paris Airshow 2013, Pratt & Whitney President David Hess said he was confident that Canada would decide to stick with the F-35 program despite its recent discussions about having a new competition. If the orders did shift to another company, Pratt & Whitney could decide to move some of the industrial base work it is currently doing in Canada, Hess said. "We might reallocate the work elsewhere", he said, adding that reduced order volumes would likely trigger changes in Canada. The division admitted in July 2012 to providing engines and engine software for China's first attack helicopter, the
Z-10. This violated U.S. export laws and resulted in a multimillion-dollar fine.
Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion consisted of liquid space propulsion at the Liquid Space Propulsion Division (West Palm Beach, Florida) and solid rocket propulsion at the Chemical Systems Division (San Jose, California), as well as refurbishment and integration of the non-motor elements of the Space Shuttle's solid rocket boosters at the USBI Co. Division (NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida). Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion provided advanced technology solutions to commercial, government and military customers for over four decades. Products included the
RL10, the upper stage rocket engine used on the Boeing Delta and Lockheed Martin Atlas rockets, high-pressure turbopumps for the
Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) and the
RD-180 booster engine, offered by
RD Amross, a partnership between Pratt & Whitney and
NPO Energomash of Russia, for the Atlas III and V programs. The West Palm Beach site consisted of an engineering division and manufacturing division which designed and manufactured the high-pressure turbopumps (fuel and LOX) for the Space Shuttle's Main Engines (SSME) which were manufactured by the former Rocketdyne Corporation.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) was formed in 2005 when Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion and
Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power were merged following the latter's acquisition from
Boeing. P&W Rocketdyne engines powered the
Space Shuttle, and the company also supplies booster engines for
Delta II rockets and boosters and upper stage engines for
Atlas III and
V and
Delta IV rockets. In 2013, PWR was sold to
GenCorp, which merged it with
Aerojet to become
Aerojet Rocketdyne.
Pratt & Whitney Power Systems Pratt & Whitney Power Systems (PWPS) designs, builds, furnishes and supports aero-derivative gas turbine and geothermal power systems for customers worldwide. These industrial gas turbines power everything from small businesses to small cities. PWPS’ industrial turbines not only generate electrical power, but provide variable speed mechanical drive for marine propulsion, gas compression, and liquid pumping. PWPS has over 2,000 industrial gas turbines installed in more than 40 countries worldwide. PWPS also provides parts and repairs for heavy-duty frame gas turbines as an OEM alternative. In May 2013,
United Technologies Corporation (UTC) sold its Pratt & Whitney Power Systems unit to
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).
International Aero Engines International Aero Engines is a joint venture that develops, builds and services the
V2500 aero engine family, which powers the
Airbus A320 family (current engine option) and
McDonnell Douglas MD-90 aircraft. The four founding engine manufacturers that make up IAE each contribute an individual module to the V2500 engine. Pratt & Whitney produces the combustor and high-pressure turbine,
Rolls-Royce the high-pressure compressor,
JAEC the fan and low-pressure compressor and
MTU the low-pressure turbine.
Engine Alliance Engine Alliance, a 50/50 joint venture between
General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, was formed in August 1996 to develop, manufacture and support a family of modern technology
engines for new high-capacity, long-range
aircraft. The main application is the
GP7200, designed for use on the
Airbus A380. It competes with the
Rolls-Royce Trent 900, the launch engine for the aircraft. The first GP7200-powered Airbus A380 entered service with Emirates on August 1, 2008, on a non-stop flight from Dubai to New York City.
Motorsports Between 1967 and 1971, Pratt & Whitney turbine engines were used in
Formula One and
American Championship Car Racing. The
STP-Paxton Turbocar dominated the
1967 Indianapolis 500 until a transmission bearing failed four laps from the finish.
STP entered four
Lotus 56s in the
1968 Indianapolis 500. One car crashed during a qualifying session. Two of the remaining cars qualified fastest and second fastest, but all three retired from the race. Turbine cars were deemed illegal before the following year's race, so Lotus chief
Colin Chapman developed the car for use in Formula One and an updated 56B competed in a half dozen Formula One races in 1971. ==Products==