JPTS stands for Jet Propellant Thermally Stable (high thermal stability, high altitude fuel), and was created specifically for the Lockheed U-2

Lockheed U-2

The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...

 reconnaissance aircraft.
The United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 currently spends approximately $10 million annually on fuel support for the U-2 aircraft. The U-2 has used JPTS since the aircraft's development in the 1950s.

JPTS is a specialty fuel and is produced by only two oil refineries in the United States. As such, it has limited worldwide availability and costs over three times the per-gallon price of the Air Force's primary jet fuel, JP-8

JP-8

JP-8, or JP8 is a jet fuel, specified and used widely by the US military. It is specified by MIL-DTL-83133 and British Defence Standard 91-87, and similar to commercial aviation's Jet-A....

. Research is under way to find a cheaper and easier alternative involving additives to generally-used jet fuels.

JPTS is specified to have a flash point of 43 °C (110 °F) and a freezing point of -53 °C (-64 °F).

See also

• JP-1
  JP-1
  JP-1 was an early jet fuel, specified in 1944 by the U.S. government . It was a pure kerosene fuel with high flash point and a freezing point of −60 °C...
  
  
• JP-4
  JP-4
  JP-4, or JP4 was a jet fuel, specified in 1951 by the U.S. government . It was a 50-50 kerosene-gasoline blend. It has lower flash point than JP-1, but was preferred because of its greater availability. It was the primary U.S. Air Force jet fuel between 1951 and 1995. Its NATO code is F-40...
  
  
• JP-5
  JP-5
  JP-5 or JP5 is a yellow, kerosene-based jet fuel developed in 1952 for use in aircraft stationed aboard aircraft carriers, where the risk from fire is particularly great. JP-5 is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, containing alkanes, naphthenes, and aromatic hydrocarbons that weighs and has a...
  
  
• JP-6
  JP-6
  Jet Propellant 6 is a type of jet fuel developed for General Electric YJ93 jet engine of the XB-70 Valkyrie supersonic aircraft. JP-6 was similar to JP-5 but with a lower freezing point and improved thermal oxidative stability...
  
  
• JP-7
  JP-7
  JP-7 is a jet fuel developed by the U.S. Air Force for use in supersonic aircraft because of its high flash point and thermal stability. It is the fuel used in the Pratt & Whitney J58 engines, used in the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. The air compression of Mach 3+ cruising flight generates very high...
  
  
• JP-8
  JP-8
  JP-8, or JP8 is a jet fuel, specified and used widely by the US military. It is specified by MIL-DTL-83133 and British Defence Standard 91-87, and similar to commercial aviation's Jet-A....
  
  
• Jet fuel
  Jet fuel
  Jet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is clear to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial aviation are Jet A and Jet A-1 which are produced to a standardized international specification...
  
  
• Aviation fuel
  Aviation fuel
  Aviation fuel is a specialized type of petroleum-based fuel used to power aircraft. It is generally of a higher quality than fuels used in less critical applications, such as heating or road transport, and often contains additives to reduce the risk of icing or explosion due to high temperatures,...