E14 – F-35 Fighter Jet Engine War

Mike brings Matt back on the show to help unpack the raging debate about which engine should power the F-35 fighter jet into the future. This episode covers all the details about the technology at the center of the debate, as well as the politics, history, and strategy in play. Fence in for some education and entertainment!

For those who like #military #technology #airforce #aviation #aerospace

----

Links • Sign up for our ⁠amazing newsletter⁠!

• Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠

• ⁠Mike Benitez LinkedIn⁠

• ⁠Matt MacGregor LinkedIn⁠

• Pete & Matt’s ⁠Defense Acquisition Substack⁠

----

Follow us on...

• ⁠Instagram⁠

• ⁠Facebook⁠

• ⁠Twitter⁠

• ⁠LinkedIn⁠

• ⁠Website⁠

----

Show Notes

(00:44) intro

(02:15) the F-35 engine problem

(06:33) power & cooling

(08:38) cooling

(14:29) the 2 engine choices

(14:48) option 1: engine core upgrade

(19:32) sharks with lasers

(22:38) option 2: new adaptive engine

(33:16) adaptive engine history with the F-22

(35:12) 20 years of bad blood

(40:47) the feud goes public

(47:17) Congress weighs in

(49:26) impacts on industry

(50:36) 6th gen fighter engine program

(53:55) Mike's spicy take

(57:42) outro