May 28 (Reuters) - The weeks' long strike by 3,000 U.S.

Pratt & Whitney engine workers will constrain cash flow during

the second quarter, but the aerospace and defense company should

be able to recover that during the year, RTX CEO Chris

Calio said on Wednesday.

Workers at two sites in Connecticut on Tuesday approved a

contract offer, ending the more than three-week-long strike,

where a top priority was getting Pratt to commit to keep work

for Lockheed Martin's ( LMT ) F-35 fighters in the state.

Calio told the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference that

the stoppage at Pratt's unionized Connecticut factories hampered

its ability to ship jet engines, and he expects break-even to

negative cash flow in the quarter.

Shares of RTX, which owns Pratt & Whitney, fell 2% earlier

on Wednesday, but trimmed those losses and were off 0.5% in

midday trading.

The strike was the first in more than 20 years at the

company's Connecticut sites, where it produces engines for the

F-35 and about 70% of the company's geared turbofan engine,

which is used in European planemaker Airbus'

strong-selling A320 NEO family of jets.

"As a result, think break even to negative cash flow in the

quarter but again, recoverable in the year," Calio said.

Suppliers of engines and other critical aircraft parts are

ramping up production to meet demand from planemakers Boeing ( BA )

and Airbus, which are manufacturing more jets.

Calio also said U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed

Golden Dome missile defense shield was unique and an

opportunity, although the fragmented nature of defense

acquisition presented a challenge.

"I do think it's going to take a whole of industry to be

able to do it and do it right, and do it on the time frame that

the president and the Pentagon have outlined."

Calio said RTX continues to expect strong demand for its

integrated air and missile defense products in Europe despite

trade tensions.

Trump backed away this week from imposing a 50% tariff on

European Union imports from June 1, restoring a July 9 deadline

to allow talks between the U.S. and the 27-nation bloc to

produce a deal.

Countries close to Russia such as Poland, Finland and

Germany have been striking new deals to buy arms as they focus

on high-volume, less costly weapons, underscoring how the war in

Ukraine has reshaped strategic thinking in European capitals

about how future conflicts could be fought.

"I think we are looked at as more than just a U.S. company,

given the partnerships that we have there with some of the

leading European defense firms and the success we've had in

helping develop the industrial base there now," Calio said.