USAF Pushes for Modular Drone Engine Options
The U.S. Air Force has selected four industry teams to develop next-generation engine designs for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. The teams include Beehive Industries, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney, and a partnership between GE Aerospace and Kratos. The initiative is designed to create a competitive and modular supplier base, ensuring future autonomous aircraft can be upgraded with diverse propulsion systems.
- The Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) are envisioned as uncrewed drones that will operate alongside crewed fighter jets like the F-35 and the upcoming F-47, which is part of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. The Air Force plans to acquire over 1,000 CCAs. - This engine initiative is part of the second increment of the CCA program and aims to mature designs for a variety of autonomous aircraft, not just a single airframe. Affordability and the ability to mass-produce these engines are key priorities to ensure the drones are "attritable," or capable of being lost in combat without significant strategic loss. - The GE Aerospace and Kratos partnership is developing the GEK1500, a 1,500-pound thrust class engine. This design leverages their previous work on the smaller GEK800 cruise missile engine. The initial contract for the GEK1500 preliminary design is valued at $12.4 million. - Honeywell's entry is the SkyShot 1600, an engine designed to be adaptable for various missions by being configurable as either a turbojet or a turbofan. It supports a thrust range from 800 to 2,800 pounds and leverages high-volume manufacturing techniques like additive manufacturing. - Pratt & Whitney is developing a new family of scalable engines in the 500 to 1,800-pound thrust class, derived from its additively manufactured TJ150 engine. The company is extensively using digital engineering and modeling to accelerate the design and testing of its NGAD-related engines, like the XA103, which will inform the CCA powerplants. - Beehive Industries, a newer player, is also involved and recently completed a production exercise to manufacture 30 of its 200-pound thrust "Frenzy" engines, with flight tests planned. - The broader NGAD program, which the CCAs will support, is developing adaptive cycle engines for the crewed F-47 fighter, such as GE's XA102 and Pratt & Whitney's XA103. These advanced engines can alter their bypass ratios in-flight to optimize for either high thrust or fuel efficiency, a technology that could influence future CCA engine designs.
