Pentagon orders hold on funding for Lynn plant’s ‘extra’ jet engine

GE Aviation spokesman Rick Kennedy said no jobs would be immediately affected by the order because the company intends to self-fund the project “through this crisis.’’

The engine has been the focus of an intense lobbying and political battle on Capitol Hill for the past three years. Lawmakers from communities that could lose jobs if the program is killed, including Representative John Tierney, Democrat of Salem, and both Massachusetts senators — John F. Kerry, a Democrat, and Scott Brown, a Republican — have joined some military analysts who argue competition between the main engine and the alternate engine would save money in the long run while creating jobs.

The main engine for the F-35 program is being developed by Pratt & Whitney. GE’s alternate is being developed in conjunction with London-based Rolls-Royce.

The F-35 program, which consolidates the building of jet fighters for all the armed services, is estimated to cost at least $382 billion. Eliminating the GE-Rolls Royce team gives Pratt & Whitney a “$100 billion monopoly’’ on the engines, according to the two companies.

In congressional testimony, however, Gates said the second engine requires another $3 billion to develop. Spending that money “in a time of economic distress’’ is a waste, he said.

Proponents of the alternative engine denounced the Pentagon’s stop-work order yesterday.

Representative Howard “Buck’’ McKeon, Republican of California and the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said backers of the second engine would try to keep it alive.

McKeon complained that choosing one contractor to make the planes’ engines amounted to the largest earmark in the history of the Defense Department.