Connecticut's U.S. senators visited Pratt and Whitney in East Hartford on Thursday to highlight the impact the 2015 defense budget will have on the state.
Senator Richard Blumenthal said billions of dollars have been allocated to bolster national security. "This National Defense Authorization Act for the U.S. is profoundly important for national security," he said. "The U.S. will remain strong, and have first-class fighter planes, submarines, [and] helicopters produced here in Connecticut."
The defense budget includes money for Pratt and Whitney to build 38 F-35 engines, funding for 122 helicopters by Sikorsky in Stratford, and money for Electric Boat in the southeastern corner to build two Virginia-class submarines. It includes additional funds to research a replacement program for the Ohio class submarines.
Senator Chris Murphy, who was just appointed to the Appropriations Committee, said the defense budget is key to helping the U.S. fight ISIS. "For the foreseeable future," he said, "we'll be fighting a terrorist organization using massive air power. For all the people who said the kind of planes outfitted by engines produced by Pratt and Whitney are obsolete, look at what is happening today inside Syria and Iraq."
Pratt and Whitney won't see the benefits of the new contracts for several years. At the same time, the company said it still needs to invest in its new products. So, one of the cost cutting measures it will enact in the coming year is furloughing salaried workers for seven days.
