The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team (FET) has been awarded a contract valued at $2.4 billion to develop its F136 engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. The contract, issued by the U.S. government, will be applied toward the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase of the F136 engine program. The SDD phase will run through September 2013. The F136 Initial Service Release is planned for 2012, at which time the FET will begin delivery of the first F136 production engines.