FAA Selects Pratt & Whitney for CLEEN Technologies Program, Targets the Environmentally-Friendly PurePower® Engines

WASHINGTON, June 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today that Pratt & Whitney has been awarded a one-year contract with extension options, which will assist Pratt & Whitney to further develop and mature new jet engine technologies aimed at reduced fuel burn, noise and emissions under the FAA's Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) technology development program.  The funding will support ongoing development of advanced technologies for the new game-changing PurePower engine family with the geared turbofan™ architecture.  Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company.

Under the CLEEN program, the FAA will support the development and commercialization of CLEEN technologies for current and future civil subsonic airplanes and jet engines to help achieve the Next Generation Air transportation System (NextGen) goals.  These goals are intended to increase airspace system capacity by significantly reducing the impact of noise and air quality emissions on communities.  

The CLEEN program's goals include the maturation of new aircraft technologies for introduction  beginning in 2015.  The goals include reduction of aircraft fuel burn by 33 percent below current technology, reduction of noise by 32db cumulative below Stage 4 levels, and reductions of NOx emissions by 60 percent below CAEP 6 standards.  Pratt & Whitney will work to further advance jet engine technologies to achieve additional fuel, emissions and noise benefits through 2025.

"The PurePower PW1000G® engine, which is scheduled for entry into service in 2013, already enables Pratt & Whitney to deliver world class levels of fuel burn, noise, and emissions," said Alan Epstein, Pratt & Whitney vice president, Technology & Environment.  "Unlike conventional turbofans based on existing technology that have been stretched to its limits to achieve added efficiencies, the geared turbofan engine technology has runway and should achieve fuel burn savings of 25-35 percent by the 2020s.  The gear changes everything."

The PurePower family of engines is designed to power the next generation of passenger aircraft.  The combination of its gear system and advanced core allows PurePower engines to deliver double-digit improvements in fuel efficiency and emissions with a 50-percent reduction in noise over today's engines.

Pratt & Whitney's PurePower PW1000G engine has been recognized by Popular Science Magazine with a 2009 "Best of What's New Award."  In addition to the Popular Science award, Pratt & Whitney's PurePower engine family also received the 2009 Aviation Week Laureate Award for outstanding achievement in Aeronautics and Propulsion and the 2008 Technology Breakthrough Award from the China Aviation Association and AVIC Science and Technology department.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines.  United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and commercial building industries.

For more information on the Pratt & Whitney PurePower engine, visit www.purepowerengines.com

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This release includes "forward-looking statements" concerning new products and anticipated future revenues.  These matters are subject to any necessary government approvals and potential risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in forward looking statements include the availability of FAA funding, the health of the global economy and strength of end market demand in the commercial aerospace industry; challenges in the design, development, production and support of advanced technologies and new products and services; and delays and disruption in delivery of materials and services from suppliers. For information identifying other important economic, political, regulatory, technological, competitive and other uncertainties, see UTC's 10-K and 10-Q Reports submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the information under the headings "Business," "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Cautionary Note Concerning Factors that May Affect Future Results," as well as the information included in UTC's Current Reports on Form 8-K.

SOURCE Pratt & Whitney