Key lawmakers predicts 2nd F-35 engine will survive

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The head of a House of Representatives panel that oversees the Pentagon predicted Wednesday that Congress would restore funding for a second F-35 fighter jet engine that President Bush wants to cancel to save money.

"It's a prudent thing" to maintain the alternate, interchangeable engine that General Electric Co (GE.N) and Rolls-Royce Group Plc (RR.L) have teamed to develop, Neil Abercrombie, chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Air and Land programs, told reporters after speaking to an industry conference. Asked if he expected Congress to agree with him, Abercrombie said: "Yes."

The second engine would compete in a projected $100 billion market against the engine built by the Pratt & Whitney unit of United Technologies Corp (UTX.N). (Reporting by Jim Wolf, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)