Early in the F-35 program, because the anticipated production run was so large, program managers envisioned developing a second engine for the single-engine fighter, with the idea of competing the two power plants to drive down cost and increase quality. This had worked with great success in the "Great Engine War" of the 1980s, which pitted Pratt & Whitney against General Electric on the F100 and F110 engines, respectively, to power the F-15and F-16. Pratt & Whitney builds the F135 engine used on all variants of the F-35 fighter. General Electric and Rolls Royce have partnered to develop the F136 engine as the alternative engine-now lauded as the "competitive engine" by supporters and derided as the "unnecessary engine" by detractors.Throughout the program, the engines were intended to be interchangeable-their operation to be "transparent" to the pilot and using the same equipment for removal and repair.For years, however, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates tried to terminate the alternative engine program, describing it as an "unnecessary, wasteful" use of taxpayer funds. Modern engines are so reliable-and a sole-source engine supplier has worked so well on other programs, such as the F-22-that there's no need for the second engine, Gates has argued. His acquisition managers and service Secretaries in recent years have concurred.Congress has countermanded Gates all along, insisting that competition will save money over the long run. It has consistently added funds to the defense budget to keep the program going. GE has said the savings could be as high as $20 billion.
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机译：在F-35计划的早期，由于预期的生产量很大，因此计划经理设想为单引擎战斗机开发第二台发动机，以竞争两个发电厂来降低成本和提高质量。这在1980年代的“伟大的发动机大战”中取得了巨大的成功，使普惠公司在F100和F110发动机上分别与通用电气公司抗衡，从而为F-15和F-16提供动力。普惠公司制造用于F-35战斗机所有变体的F135发动机。通用电气和劳斯莱斯公司已合作开发F136发动机，作为替代发动机，现在被支持者称赞为“竞争性发动机”，而遭到批评者嘲笑为“不必要的发动机”。在整个计划中，这些发动机原意是可互换的，多年来，国防部长罗伯特·盖茨（Robert M. Gates）试图终止替代发动机计划，称其为“不必要的，浪费的”使用。纳税人资金。盖茨认为，现代发动机是如此可靠-唯一来源的发动机供应商在F-22等其他程序上的工作如此出色，以至于不需要第二个发动机。近年来，他的收购经理和服务秘书一直对此表示赞同。国会一直在反击盖茨，坚称从长远来看，竞争可以节省开支。它一直在国防预算中增加资金以保持该计划的进行。通用电气曾表示，节省的费用可能高达200亿美元。
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