US House votes to fund F-35 alternate engine 10/08 03:47 PM

* Includes full funding for fighter purchases
* Pentagon spokesman declines to say if bill to spark veto (Adds additional detail, background, byline)
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives approved on Thursday $560 million to continue work on an alternate F-35 engine being built by General Electric Co (GE:$16.22,00$0.06,000.37%) and Rolls-Royce Group Plc (RYCEF:$7.7173,$0.2673,3.59%) , defying a White House veto threat.
The legislation passed by a vote of 281 to 146, despite the Obama administration's attempts to shut the second engine program down.
The bill also would fully fund the Pentagon's $6 billion request to buy 30 F-35 fighters, built by the Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT:$73.00,00$-1.03,00-1.39%) .
The bill's backers hope that inclusion of full funding for the versatile aircraft will be enough to stave off a veto.
A Pentagon spokesman declined to say whether the administration would veto the bill.
Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp (UTX:$61.78,00$0.71,001.16%) , is already building an F-35 engine.
Backers of the alternate engine program say the competition will cut engine costs in the long run and reduce the risk of a fleet-wide grounding because of an engine flaw.
The Pentagon has said the alternate engine is a waste of money, and could reduce the number of F-35s it can ultimately afford to purchase.
"The department will carefully evaluate the impact on the overall Joint Strike Fighter program before making recommendations to the president about whether or not to veto the legislation," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told a news conference.
The Senate also must approve the measure, which was included in a bill that sets the Pentagon budget for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1.
The alternate engine could still be discontinued even without a presidential veto, as it could be cut from separate legislation that actually provides the funding for Pentagon operations.
The bill does end two other programs that the Pentagon has sought to discontinue over the objections of some in Congress: the F-22 fighter plane, and the VH-71 presidential helicopter, both made by Lockheed, as well as the ground vehicle portion of the Army's modernization drive.
The bill also ends the C-17 cargo plane program, but that program could be kept alive in the spending bill, as the Senate included money for the Boeing Co (BA:$52.30,00$0.51,000.98%) -made planes in its version.
The bill also authorizes a multiyear purchase of Boeing's (BA:$52.30,00$0.51,000.98%) F/A-18 fighters.
It also extends hate-crime legislation to cover gays and lesbians, a measure that drew the objection of Republicans who said Democrats were exploiting the military to advance liberal social positions. (Additional reporting by Adam Entous, editing by Tim Dobbyn)