All F-35 prototypes produced thus far have used the Pratt & Whitney F135 Engine. This revolutionary turbine engine uses technology gleaned from the P & W F119 engine used on the Raptor. The F135 incorporates a 3-stage fan and a 6-stage compressor to produce a full afterburner thrust of 43,000 lbf and an intermediate thrust of 28,000 lbf. This engine can propel the F-35 to 1200 mph (Mach 1.6+) and is far more fuel efficient that legacy engines giving the F-35C a range of 1400 nmi. A big step forward in engine technology is the fact that the F135 has a much longer service life than its predecessors and requires about half as much maintenance. Early plans called for a competition for engine service rights. General Electric has been developing their F136 Engine, although it is still just in development phases. Due to the fact that neither engine offers anything unique, many in government budgeting have pushed for an end to funding for the F136, but as of July 2009, both companies were still developing. The plan as it stands now is to continue with the F135 until GE can convince them otherwise. The F135 is being delivered in three variants: F135-PW-100 for the F-35A, F135-PW-400 for the carrier variant, and the F135-PW-600 for the Marine VTOL. The F-35B will use the Rolls-Royce LiftSystem that is similar to the Soviet Yak-141 and will provide a total of 41,900 pounds of downward thrust during a vertical landing. Pratt & Whitney faced a huge challenge in creating a single engine design for a massive plane where previous single engine planes like the F-16 were quite small and came away with a revolutionary design that is already being implemented in other future designs. The following videos are piped directly from the respective engine manufacturers and offer a detailed picture of the advanced technology that goes into the new propulsion systems.
