GKN Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney Partner on Additive Manufacturing for F135 Engine

GKN Aerospace and RTX's Pratt & Whitney have signed a Technology Development Agreement to explore additive manufacturing for the F135 turbofan that powers the Lockheed Martin F‑35 Lightning II. The collaboration will use GKN's directed‑energy deposition (DED) process to build a demonstrator and aim to certify production parts by 2028, working with the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency. GKN operates DED centers in Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States, bringing its large‑scale wire‑fed laser system to the project.

The F135 engine, especially in its F‑35B variant, combines a high‑by‑pass turbofan with a Rolls‑Royce lift‑fan system, delivering more than 40,000 lb of thrust and enabling short‑take‑off and vertical‑landing capability. Improving manufacturing quality through additive techniques is intended to address past issues such as cracked blades and micro‑cracking, and to streamline supply‑chain logistics for the global F‑35 fleet.