Pratt and Whitney Middletown Plant, Connecticut

This plant, isolated on a remote stretch of the Connecticut River, is one of the major aircraft engine plants in the nation. It was established initially as a secretive federal jet engine test facility in 1957, and was officially transferred to Pratt and Whitney in 1966. Engines developed and produced here are used on most contemporary fighter jets (F-15, F-16, F-117, F-22, F-35) as well as most commercial airliners (Boeing 707, 727, 747, 777, Airbus 310, 320, 330). Pratt and Whitney is one of two American jet engine companies supplying the airlines and military aircraft of the United States. The other is General Electric, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in the world, and which, starting in 1974, was based in Fairfield, Connecticut. GE moved its headquarters to Boston in 2016, and now United Technologies, the parent company for Pratt and Whitney, is the largest company based in Connecticut.