March 04, 2026 - No. 09


In This Issue

: FAA Issues Emergency Directive for Boeing 737 MAX Amid Overheating Risk

: Grounded Dreams: How the Sikorsky S-67 Blackhawk Pushed Helicopter Design Too Far, Too Soon

: US Army Plans Black Hawk Midlife Overhaul to Extend Service Past 2050

: Regulators Order Boeing 757 Winglet Checks

: Small B-52 Fleet Size Creates Challenges For Engine, Radar Upgrade Plans

: Sorry, Stealth F-22 Raptor and China: Boeing F-47 NGAD Will Be The Most Powerful Fighter Ever and Will Have ‘Swarm Weapons’

: Video: US 6th-gen F-47 fighter’s adaptive engine progress draws global attention

: U.S. Air Force Rounds Out CCA Increment 2 Engine Awards

: U.S. Air Force’s X-62A Aircraft Hosts Lockheed Martin’s Tactical AI for Autonomous Missile-Evasion Tests.

: Watch what happens to plane tires at touchdown (Video)



 


 


FAA Issues Emergency Directive for Boeing 737 MAX Amid Overheating Risk

US regulator mandates urgent cockpit procedures after overheating incidents on 737 MAX jets.

By Bhavya Velani
February 28, 20263 Mins Read


737 Max; Renton Factory; 1st 737 Max on line; Aerial View from Front; K66444-03 | Photo: Boeing

WASHINGTON, D.C.- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an immediate Airworthiness Directive for all Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operating in the United States following reports of uncontrolled cockpit and cabin heat.

The directive applies to Boeing 737 MAX 8, MAX 9, and MAX 8-200 aircraft and affects 771 US-registered jets. Airlines operating the Boeing 737 MAX (7M8/7M9) from major hubs such as Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) must comply within 30 days.
Photo: Collins Aerospace

FAA Directive on Boeing 737 MAX Overheating Risk
The Federal Aviation Administration issued the Airworthiness Directive on February 24, making it effective the same day. While the agency is accepting public comments, compliance is mandatory without delay.

The action follows two reported incidents in which flight crews experienced excessively high temperatures in both the cockpit and passenger cabin during flight. In both cases, the crew could not control the heat using existing procedures.

The FAA identified the root cause as the tripping of a circuit breaker identified as CB3062. This breaker is part of the Standby Power Control Unit within the aircraft’s electrical system. It is linked to the BAT BUS SECT 2 circuit, which supports air conditioning, cabin pressurization, and overheating protection systems.

When the circuit breaker trips, it generates an unintended electrical signal. That signal causes two valves to close, reducing cooling airflow to the air conditioning system’s heat exchangers. As a result, hot bleed air from the engines is not sufficiently cooled before entering the cockpit and cabin. This can lead to rapidly rising and potentially dangerous temperatures.

The FAA warned that prolonged exposure to excessive heat could cause injuries or impair crew performance. If crew members become unfit to operate the aircraft safely, flight continuation and landing could be compromised, AeroTelegraph reported.
Photo: Boeing Airplanes

Required Operational Changes Within 30 Days
Operators must revise aircraft flight manuals within 30 days of the directive’s effective date. The update includes three new or modified emergency procedures.

First, crews must initiate a controlled descent if the relevant circuit breaker has tripped. The guidance instructs pilots to plan a landing at the nearest suitable airport.

Second, crews may attempt a single reset of the CB3062 circuit breaker, located in the cockpit behind the right seat. If the reset fails, pilots must stop the bleed air supply to prevent further overheating.

The procedures outline additional mitigation steps depending on conditions. These include reducing cabin and cockpit lighting, opening the cockpit door to improve airflow, turning off the in-flight entertainment system, and descending to the lowest safe altitude or 10,000 feet, whichever is higher.

If necessary, pilots may deploy airbrakes to increase the aircraft’s rate of descent. A faster descent can help lower cabin temperatures by reducing engine bleed air heat and improving environmental control system performance.

United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX TAKEOFF from Chicago. Photo: Cado Photo

Potential Expansion of Regulatory Measures
The FAA stated that the current directive is an interim measure. A broader system review identified two additional downstream circuit breakers within the environmental control system that could also trip under certain conditions.

The agency is evaluating whether further regulatory action is required to address those components and provide additional crew procedures.

Boeing is developing a technical modification to correct the unsafe condition described in the directive. Once the modification is finalized, approved, and made available, the FAA will assess whether additional mandatory actions are necessary.
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Grounded Dreams: How the Sikorsky S-67 Blackhawk Pushed Helicopter Design Too Far, Too Soon
The Sikorsky S-67 Blackhawk was an ambitious helicopter built at a time when Sikorsky needed to prove it could still lead in military rotorcraft design. Fast, agile, and highly unconventional, it showed how far helicopter performance could be pushed. But the US Army was moving toward heavier, more survivable gunships, and the S-67’s focus on speed came too early. With only one prototype and no production orders, it became an experiment that influenced future designs without ever entering service.

Kapil Kajal
Published March 1, 2026

S-67 Blackhawk in 1972.


Note: See photos in the original article. 


By the mid-1960s, Sikorsky was still a respected helicopter builder with several successful models in production, including the S-61, S-64, and S-65. But beneath that steady business, there was growing concern inside the company because nearly every major US Army helicopter competition of the previous decade had gone to someone else, leaving Sikorsky with no clear new production program on the horizon. Bell had won the Army’s utility helicopter requirement, Boeing Vertol had secured the heavy-lift role, Hughes had taken the Light Observation Helicopter contract, Lockheed had been selected for the Cheyenne attack helicopter, and Sikorsky was watching opportunity after opportunity slip away, forcing the company to look for new ideas that could reopen doors. One of those ideas was a privately funded project known as the Sikorsky S-67 Blackhawk.

Contents
S-67: Developed in just nine months
Fast and Agile
The Crash
Related Articles
S-67: Developed in just nine months
Image via Sikorsky Archives


As the Army’s AH-56 Cheyenne program struggled with technical problems and political resistance, Sikorsky believed there might be space for a different kind of attack helicopter with proven speed, agility, and components rather than an entirely new design. In 1969, Sikorsky built the S-67 as a true skunkworks project that went from initial design to first flight in just nine months and cost less than three million dollars, an extraordinary pace even by Cold War standards. Design work began in November, fabrication followed early in 1970, and on August 20 of that year, the S-67 took to the air for the first time, looking more like a sleek fighter than a traditional helicopter.
Image via Sikorsky Archives

The helicopter blended old and new ideas, with an all-new narrow fuselage built around a tandem two-seat cockpit, paired with the proven rotor system, engines, and drive components taken directly from the S-61 and H-3 helicopters already in service. It allowed Sikorsky to focus its innovation on speed and handling rather than basic reliability. Sikorsky called it a “semi-compound” helicopter, meaning it carried wings to offload the rotor at high speed but relied entirely on rotor power rather than auxiliary jets or propellers.
Image via Sikorsky Archives

On paper, the S-67 could carry 7,000 pounds of arms and ammunition for the attack role and had a turret-mounted 7.62 mm gun, 20- and 30-mm cannons, 40-mm grenade launchers, and wing-mounted rocket and antitank missile pods. With a range of 600 miles, the helicopter could fly long distances on search-and-rescue missions using wing-mounted fuel tanks, operate as a reconnaissance platform packed with sensors, or even transport a small group of armed troops at speeds far higher than those of conventional helicopters of the time.

Fast and Agile
Image via Sikorsky Archives

During its test flights between 1970 and 1974, pilots described the S-67 as smooth and responsive, and highly maneuverable. It was capable of performing maneuvers such as loops, rolls, and split-S turns. The helicopter was fast, and it set a speed record in 1970 for helicopters without auxiliary propulsion by reaching 191 knots over measured distances. In 1972, the US Army issued four small contracts to evaluate the S-67’s maneuverability and control near structural limits, its stabilator all-moving horizontal tail, its dive brakes, and the pilot’s artificial force feel system designed to reduce pilot workload at high speeds. The Army was satisfied with the helicopter’s speed and maneuverability, but also pointed out several handling issues, including a noticeable delay in pitch response, controls that felt stiff and poorly centered, and trim behavior that made long, steady flight more tiring than it should have been.
Image via Sikorsky Archives

For Sikorsky, the timing of the aircraft also proved wrong as the Cheyenne program had already been canceled, and when the Army evaluated potential replacements in the early 1970s, it chose not to pursue an upgraded version of the S-67, instead deciding to start fresh with the Advanced Attack Helicopter program, eventually leading to the AH-64 Apache. Despite Sikorsky proposing a heavier and more capable production version of the Blackhawk, the Army wanted a different path. With no domestic customer in sight, Sikorsky modified the S-67 and took it overseas, converting the small cabin into a troop compartment, refining the cockpit to resemble a production aircraft, adding a hoist and a new gun turret, and demonstrating the helicopter in several foreign countries in hopes of generating interest. The aircraft continued to fly and impress, but no orders followed.

The Crash
Image via Sikorsky Archives

On September 1, 1974, during a flight demonstration at the Farnborough Air Show in England, the program came to a sudden and tragic end when the S-67 crashed during a low-level maneuver and was destroyed, killing both pilots. With only one prototype ever built, no funding to replace it, and no committed customer, the program ended immediately. By the time it was over, the S-67 had logged nearly 600 flight hours and proven that helicopters could be far faster and more agile than many believed, but it had also shown how narrow the margin could be when pushing rotorcraft performance to its limits. The Army wanted survivability, armor, and systems integration more than speed, and the S-67, for all its brilliance, did not align with that future.
Image via Sikorsky Archives

The Sikorsky S-67 Blackhawk was not a bad design or a failed idea; it was simply ahead of its time. Like other aircraft in the Grounded Dreams series, it never went into production or saw combat, but it helped show what helicopters could do and influenced the designs that came after it. Check our previous entries HERE.







 


US Army Plans Black Hawk Midlife Overhaul to Extend Service Past 2050
 February 25, 2026


The US Army has sought industry input to assess the feasibility of commercially modifying its UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter fleet to keep the aircraft in service beyond 2050.

Under the proposed midlife modernization, industrial players would overhaul the airframes of an estimated 12 to 24 UH-60M helicopters annually, along with an unspecified number of HH-60M medical evacuation variants, according to a recent request for information.

As part of the overhaul, each helicopter would be fully disassembled and undergo detailed inspections. Damaged or defective airframe components would be repaired or replaced, while corrosion and fatigue would be addressed through targeted remediation and preventive measures. 

The effort, being overseen by the US Army’s Utility Helicopters Project Office (UHPO), would expand sustainment capacity for airframe repairs and component overhauls, helping maintain readiness as the Black Hawk fleet continues to age.
The army currently operates more than 2,000 UH-60Ms, which have been in service since 2006, and is in negotiations with Sikorsky on an 11th multi-year production contract that would extend procurement of new UH-60Ms through 2032.

Through the request for information, the service aims to determine achievable levels of modification and assess industry capacity to implement the upgrades.

Looking ahead, the program could be expanded to include other US military and civil government operators of H-60 aircraft, as well as international Black Hawk customers.

“The Black Hawk has proven itself across decades of service, and the modernization and sustainment efforts in this initiative ensure our soldiers can continue to rely on the Black Hawk as the workhorse of Army Aviation for decades to come,” UHPO project manager COL Ryan Nesrsta said.

A Black Hawk helicopter deploying launched effects. Photo: Lockheed Martin

Black Hawk Modernization
The multi-role helicopter is already undergoing a series of overhauls and upgrades aimed at equipping it with emerging capabilities such as autonomy, artificial intelligence, and launch-effects.

Under a $43-million contract awarded in August, Sikorsky is upgrading the airframe and fuel systems and adding a digital backbone to enable uncrewed aerial systems and launch-effects integration. The effort will also increase payload and range while preparing the aircraft for future autonomy and AI-enabled flight controls.

Before the contract, Sikorsky had already advanced Black Hawk modernization through the production of Upturned Exhaust System II kits, improving infrared suppression, reducing weight, and enhancing reliability and maintainability. 

In October, the company unveiled a fully autonomous variant integrating its third-generation fly-by-wire system with MATRIX autonomy technology.

The uncrewed version is designed for autonomous logistics, drone deployment, and extended-endurance missions, reducing pilot workload, improving safety, and enabling operations in contested environments.

For launch-effects, the Black Hawk completed its first flight test of the Altius 700 air vehicle developed by Anduril in 2023, validating performance across all phases of operation.






 


Regulators Order Boeing 757 Winglet Checks

Sean Broderick 
February 27, 2026

Icelandair Boeing 757 with the described winglets.
Credit: Depositphotos

Operators of Boeing 757s with a certain type of Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) winglets are inspecting the assemblies for cracks following reports of five aircraft with issues and quick action by the supplier and regulators to develop an inspection plan.

The FAA issued an immediately effective airworthiness directive (AD) on Feb. 26, giving operators five days to conduct high frequency eddy current inspections of scimitar blended winglets (SBWs). The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) adopted the FAA’s directive Feb. 27.

“The FAA has received a report indicating a crack finding on a Boeing Model 757-200 airplane with scimitar blended winglets (SBW) while undergoing a heavy maintenance check,” the U.S. agency said in its AD preamble. “The crack was located in the inspar outer lower wing skin area in the periphery of access panel 543BB”—a machined skin panel installed as part of APB’s winglet modification.
The panel does not have a mandatory maintenance inspection, the FAA said. APB quickly developed a recommended inspection and alerted affected operators in a Feb. 4 alert service bulletin. The bulletin recommended conducting the checks within 30 days.

But reports of more cracks soon flowed in, prompting the FAA to shorten the recommended inspection deadline to five days. In all, five aircraft have been found with the cracks, the FAA said.

The FAA directive affects 156 U.S.-registered 757s. Aviation Week Fleet Discovery shows 265 757s with winglets, including 23 in storage, but not all of these have the upgraded SBW variant targeted for inspections.

Launched in 2015 with an order from United Airlines, the SBW replaces APB’s standard aluminum blended winglet tip with a scimitar-shaped tip cap. The FAA and EASA awarded supplemental type certificates for 757 SBWs in 2016.







 


Small B-52 Fleet Size Creates Challenges For Engine, Radar Upgrade Plans

With just some B-52s equipped for the nuclear mission and all of them in high demand around the globe, finding time to install the upgrades is an issue.

Joseph Trevithick
Updated Feb 27, 2026 11:40 AM EST

USAF
The TWZ Newsletter



Note: See photos in the original article. . 

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U.S. Air Force officials say critical engine and radar upgrade programs for the service’s B-52H bombers are continuing to show improvement after years of delays and growing costs. However, there are substantial demands placed on the relatively small fleet, including a major need for a certain number of the jets to be available at any one time, tied to the nuclear strike mission. This, in turn, creates additional challenges when it comes to planning how to get those upgrades into service on operational aircraft.

Each of the Air Force’s B-52H bombers, 76 of which are currently in inventory, is set to get eight new Rolls-Royce F130 engines and a new AN/APQ-188 active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar. These upgrade efforts are known as the Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP) and Radar Modernization Program (RMP), respectively. The bombers are also set to receive a host of other upgrades and modifications, inside and out, and will come out of this entire process redesignated as B-52Js. The modernized aircraft are expected to keep flying through at least 2050.

B-52 Future Stratofortress: The Upgrades That Will Transform The B-52H Into The B-52J

As noted, CERP and RMP have faced serious setbacks in recent years. The original RMP schedule expected flight testing to start in 2024 and that the new radars would be flying on operational bombers by 2027. The Air Force only took delivery of the first B-52 with an AN/APQ-188 in December and is now looking at reaching initial operational capability toward the end of the decade. CERP has yet to start flight testing, and its initial operational capability timeline has slipped from 2030 to at least 2033. In both cases, the delays have come along with millions of dollars in cost growth.

“Boeing has already looked at some schedule improvement that we’ve seen. But, for example, the RMP jets have already been modded and moved out to Edwards [Air Force Base in California]. So we’re working that,” Air Force Gen. Dale White said at a roundtable at the Air & Space Forces Association’s (AFA) annual Warfare Symposium on Wednesday. “So you’re seeing a lot of progress on this.”
The first B-52H fitted with a new AN/APQ-188 radar arrived at Edwards Air Force Base in December 2025. USAF

White is the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Critical Major Weapon Systems, a role established last August to create a “single empowered leader” to manage top-priority Air Force weapon systems programs.

“The challenge with B-52 that I think everybody forgets, it’s such a small fleet that has such a tremendous requirement in terms of readiness,” White added. “You’ve got to have a certain number on the ramp. That’s a requirement.”

A key factor here is that a portion of the B-52 fleet contributes to the air leg of America’s nuclear deterrent triad. There is the possibility now that nuclear capability could be restored to all B-52s following the expiration of the New START arms control treaty with Russia earlier this month. Dozens of the bombers were converted to a conventional-only configuration to comply with that agreement.

This is compounded by the B-52 fleet’s mission-capable rate, which has been hovering between 50 and 55 percent in recent years. This imposes additional limits on the number of bombers available for real-world mission taskings of any kind at any one time, which are then magnified by the relatively small fleet size. There are B-52Hs in storage, and bombers have been reactivated to make up for attrition in the past. However, the size of that reserve is also small, and returning them to service is a complex and costly process.


A B-52 bomber seen undergoing maintenance. USAF
“Now that we’re turning the program around and we’re starting to make some good progress,” the question becomes, “how do you get these through the depot while at the same time meeting the operational requirements?” Gen. White explained. “That choreography, I think, is going to be tough.”

William Bailey, a member of the Senior Executive Service who is currently performing the duties of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, was also at the roundtable. He said he had already seen work underway at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma that will help to answer these questions. Tinker is where B-52s, as well as a host of larger aircraft types, go for depot-level maintenance. That is also where the majority of the upgrade work is expected to take place.

A B-52 stripped of paint undergoing depot-level maintenance at Tinker Air Force Base. USAF


They are “looking at, as those aircraft come through for depot [maintenance], looking at what kind of changes will be made associated with CERP and RMP. You have that actual aircraft come through the depot before you’re going to see it for CERP,” Bailey said. “So you get to go ahead and image those areas. Take a look at what’s the structure you’re working with already. And so the team is doing that now, getting ready for the day that shows up.”

Bailey added that officials in charge of the modernization efforts are in direct and regular contact with Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) about the timelines for making B-52s available for upgrades. AFGSC oversees the bulk of the Air Force’s bomber fleets.

Bailey and Gen. White said yesterday that they were not aware of any changes to the previously stated initial operational capability timelines for CERP and RMP.
As mentioned, the Air Force received the first B-52 with the new AN/APQ-188 radar last December. At that time, the goal was to begin flight testing at Edwards this year, but it’s unclear if that has now begun. After delivery, the Air Force had said that the bomber would need to complete a series of tests on the ground first. Boeing had performed an initial round of system functional checks before delivering the aircraft to Edwards.

A look at the AN/APQ-188 radar installed on a B-52. USAF
When it comes to CERP, Rolls-Royce confirmed to Defense One earlier this week that the first batch of F130s intended for integration on an actual B-52 is set to be delivered to the Air Force next year. Beyond the F130s themselves, the bombers will get new twin-engine pods and other modifications as part of CERP. The exact timeline for the start of flight testing after that is unclear. The engines will go first to the Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) in Tennessee. On Tuesday, Rolls-Royce had also announced that the F130 had successfully completed altitude and operability testing on the ground at AEDC.

An F130 engine in a test fixture at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex. Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce | Rolls-Royce F130 engines for B-52 begin testing


The Air Force remains committed to CERP, RMP, and the rest of the B-52 upgrade effort, which it sees as essential to ensuring the bombers remain operationally relevant for decades to come. TWZ has previously explored the particularly important new target acquisition and identification capabilities, as well as secondary electronic warfare capability and improved situational awareness, that AN/APQ-188 AESA radar is set to give the bombers. The radars will also offer reliability and sustainability benefits over the aging, mechanically-scanned AN/APQ-166.

The new F130 engines will also give the B-52 major boosts in range and performance, as well as greater fuel efficiency and reduced maintenance demands compared to the Pratt & Whitney TF33s that power the bombers now. The TF33 was originally designed in the late 1950s and has been out of production since 1985, which has made sustaining them increasingly costly and time-consuming. The range and fuel economy benefits will also translate to reduced demand for aerial refueling support for upgraded bombers.

Overall, the CERP and RMP upgrade efforts look to be making important progress, but challenges remain for bringing the entire fleet up to the much-improved B-52J standard.







 


Sorry, Stealth F-22 Raptor and China: Boeing F-47 NGAD Will Be The Most Powerful Fighter Ever and Will Have ‘Swarm Weapons’

The U.S. Air Force is rapidly accelerating its transition into the sixth generation of aerial warfare. The F-47, developed by Boeing under the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative, is on track for a maiden flight in 2028. Following a secretive March 2025 contract award, early low-rate production is already underway in St. Louis, aiming to replace the aging F-22 Raptor with a more sustainable, longer-range, and “ultra-stealthy” platform.

By Steve Balestrieri

NGAD Image. Credit: U.S. Air Force.



Note: See photos in the original article. 

Summary and Key Points: Steve Balestrieri, a national security columnist and former U.S. Army Special Forces officer, evaluates the rapid progress of the F-47 NGAD program.

-Overseen by Gen. Dale White, the F-47 is designed to replace the F-22 with a 1,000+ mile combat radius and “Stealth++” capabilities exceeding the F-35 and Raptor.
NGAD. Image Credit: Artist Rendering.

-This 19FortyFive report analyzes the integration of the Pratt & Whitney XA103 adaptive cycle engine and the fighter’s role as a “quarterback” for Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).
-Balestrieri concludes that the F-47’s modular architecture and AI-driven drone teaming will ensure American air dominance in contested 2030s airspace.

The F-47 NGAD Debut is Coming: Why Boeing’s New Sixth-Generation Fighter is the Most Lethal Ever Built
The U.S. Air Force’s F-47, developed by Boeing under the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative to replace the F-22, is on track for a first flight in 2028. As of February 2026, the program is advancing rapidly, with manufacturing underway and aiming for operational fielding by the early 2030s.

Air Force Gen. Dale White, who is the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Critical Major Weapon Systems, a new role that oversees the F-47 and other major Air Force initiatives, told media members at the Air Warfare Symposium that the program “is doing exceptionally well.”

“Boeing has done a really good job of ramping up the personnel piece,” White said. “In the early phases of these programs … you typically watch the personnel ramp against the timeline and activities you have to have to get done. They’ve done very well with that.”

The F-47 is currently in early, low-rate, and highly secretive production following a March 2025 contract award. Early manufacturing of the first aircraft is underway in St. Louis, with a fleet goal of 185+ units to replace the F-22.
Image: Lockheed Martin showing a refueling NGAD fighter.
The NGAD effort also includes developing new Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones, as well as advanced jet engines, weapons, electronic warfare suites, sensors, networking ecosystems, battle management capabilities, and more.
“Right now we are still on time and on target,” White said.

The F-47 Will Be The Most Advanced Fighter In US History:
The F-47 could be the best fighter the Air Force has ever flown, combining unprecedented stealth, extreme speed (Mach 2+), and vastly improved range, acting as a “quarterback” for AI-driven drone swarms (CCAs).
 

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And, some experts even go so far as to say it will be the most lethal fighter jet ever created. 

The F-47 will accomplish this while featuring modular, adaptable software/hardware and built-in resilience for easier maintenance, ensuring air dominance by out-sensing, out-thinking, and out-performing any adversary in contested airspace for decades. 

It replaces the F-22, focusing on longer reach (1000+ mile radius) and network-centric warfare, not just dogfighting.

Pratt And Whitney Reveals New Engine Details:
On February 17, Pratt & Whitney released new details and video of its XA103 adaptive cycle engine developed for the US Air Force Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) program. 

The NGAP engine is intended to power the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter for which Boeing was selected in 2025 to develop the F-47, which will replace the F-22 Raptor. Because the video update depicts a sixth-generation fighter linked to the NGAP effort, it could be that they let the cat out of the bag, so to speak.

“One of the most striking aspects of the aircraft shown in the video was its apparent lack of traditional vertical stabilizers, wrote Jack Buckby. “Instead, the aircraft used a blended wing configuration with smooth, uninterrupted surfaces, a design approach widely associated with reducing radar cross-section and improving survivability in heavily defended airspace – meaning that the aircraft depicted was clearly stealthy. 

Shown is a graphical artist rendering of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) Platform. The rendering highlights the Air Force’s sixth generation fighter, the F-47. The NGAD Platform will bring lethal, next-generation technologies to ensure air superiority for the Joint Force in any conflict. (U.S. Air Force graphic)

“The Air Force has previously confirmed that NGAD will incorporate stealth characteristics exceeding those of current fighters like the F-22 and F-35, reflecting the need to penetrate advanced integrated air defence systems developed by adversaries such as China.”

Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) Formation Quarterback:
According to the graphic that former USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Allvin showed at the White House last spring, the Air Force plans to acquire at least 185 F-47s; this could provide it with enough aircraft to replace the Raptor fleet on a one-to-one basis, but that figure can be misleading. 

The F-47 will control a swarm of AI-driven drones, CCAs, from its cockpit. This “quarterback” role allows the manned F-47 to operate at a safe distance. 

At the same time, the CCAs perform tasks such as penetrating high-threat areas, conducting reconnaissance, jamming enemy systems, or acting as decoys. The drones have autonomous maneuvering capabilities, and the F-47 receives data and provides command and control through a secure, jam-resistant link.

The F-47,  the quarterback of several drone wingmen, with initial assessments suggesting that each new fighter would be paired with at least two, and possibly as many as five, AI-enabled drone wingmen. 

F-22 Raptor At National Museum of the Air Force. Photo Taken by Harry J. Kazianis for 19FortyFive Back in July 2025.
F-22 Raptor Exhibit Explainer 19FortyFive Photo. Taken By Harry J. Kazianis in July 2025 at the National Museum of the Air Force.
F-22 Raptor Model. Image Credit: 19FortyFive.com

However, more recent tests by Lockheed Martin have shown that the final figure could be significantly higher, demonstrating the ability to control up to eight drones from a single F-35. 

That means each of the 185 new F-47s should be thought of as a fighter formation unto itself, rather than as a single jet.

What The Coatings Mean For Stealth Capabilities:
While the F-35 was described as a “stealth” aircraft, as were the CCAs, the F-22 was described as a “Stealth +” type. In contrast, the F-47 was described as “Stealth ++,” consistent with service comments that it would have to be substantially stealthier than the F-22 to survive anticipated adversary air defenses.
Alex Hollings of Airpower provides a detailed explanation of the complex calculations behind radar cross-sections and stealth. 

“Radar cross sections are notoriously difficult to calculate and vary depending on radar frequency and angle of observation, but speaking in general terms, the F-35’s radar cross section is estimated to be .005 square meters – nearly half the size of the F-117 Nighthawk on radar scopes. 

“But the larger and stealthier F-22 Raptor is said to have a frontal radar cross section of an incredible .0001 square meters – an astonishing 50 times smaller than the very stealthy F-35. 

“If that difference is encapsulated in the distinction between ‘Stealth’ and ‘Stealth+’ on this graphic, then it suggests the F-47 that is designated as ‘Stealth++’ may be the stealthiest fighter ever designed by a wide margin.”

Air Dominance Is Not A Birthright:
“Air dominance is not a birthright, but it has become synonymous with American air power,” then-Air Force Chief of Staff General David Allvin said. This program (F-47 NGAD) is “our commitment to the fight.”

“Compared to the F-22, the F-47 will cost less and be more adaptable to future threats—and we will have more of the F-47s in our inventory,” Allvin said in a statement. 

“The F-47 will have significantly longer range, more advanced stealth, be more sustainable, supportable, and have higher availability than our fifth-generation fighters. This platform is designed with a ‘built to adapt’ mindset and will take significantly less manpower and infrastructure to deploy.”







 


Video: US 6th-gen F-47 fighter’s adaptive engine progress draws global attention
The upcoming F-47 jet, set to fly in 2028, is expected to replace the F-22 with longer range, higher speed, and advanced AI capabilities.

By Chris Young
Military
Mar 02, 2026 07:24 AM EST

Note: See video and photos in the original article. 


Pratt & Whitney's render for sixth-generation Boeing F-47 fighter plane.
RTX/Pratt & Whitney

Pratt & Whitney has released a video that may show us a glimpse of the sixth-generation Boeing F-47 fighter plane currently under development for the US Air Force.

The F-47 is a next-generation aircraft that is being developed to replace Lockheed Martin’s F-22. It is currently in the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase.

A glimpse of the next-gen F-47
Under the US Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, the first prototype of the F-47 is scheduled to fly in 2028. 

If all goes to plan, the first F-47 prototype will be the first of a fleet of roughly 185 fighters slated to succeed the F-22 Raptor. Unsurprisingly, Boeing and the US Air Force have remained tight-lipped when it comes to F-47 specifications, though reports do suggest secretive technology demonstrator tests have already taken place.

Though the F-47 program is highly classified, we do know that the fighter jet will be a long-range air dominance fighter capable of reaching a top speed of roughly Mach 2. It will also have a range of over 1,000 nautical miles (1,852 km).

Now, in a new video from Pratt & Whitney, we may be getting a tantalizing glimpse at the aircraft. It’s still not much to go on, though, as it only lasts 30 seconds, and the F-47 isn’t the main focus of the video. Instead, the video is focused on the XA-103 engine, which is thought to be the main candidate to power the F-47.

The XA-103’s digital twin design
The video focuses on the digital twin design strategy employed to accelerate the development of the XA-103 engine. However, at the end of the video, the camera pans out to show a render of what appears to be an F-47.

If this is indeed the F-47, the video shows us that it will feature a modified delta wing, a tailless configuration, and a high cockpit. Of course, all of this could simply be a misdirect, with the US Air Force purposefully putting a render out that looks nothing like the real F-47.

Much like the F-47, not a lot is known about the XA-103 engine. However, as New Atlas points out, it is expected to increase the range of the F-47 by 25 percent, while generating 10 percent more thrust compared to the F-35.

The XA-103 is being developed under the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) program. It will feature advanced thermal management systems, meaning its internal systems will be cooled by a special airflow system, masking its heat signature.

Though the F-47 remains shrouded in mystery, Lockheed Martin recently announced it was upgrading its previous-gen fighters’ AI capabilities to give them “sixth-generation” capabilities. This suggests the F-47 will also utilize AI software to rapidly lock distant targets, out of sight of the pilots themselves.







 


U.S. Air Force Rounds Out CCA Increment 2 Engine Awards

Guy Norris 
February 25, 2026
Beehive Industries' Frenzy engine.
Credit: Guy Norris/Aviation Week

AURORA, Colorado—The U.S. Air Force has confirmed that four engine-makers have been granted initial conceptual design awards for the second increment of collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) and other types of autonomous collaborative platforms (ACP).

In addition to awards already acknowledged by GE Aerospace-Kratos and Honeywell, the Air Force says contracts have also been issued to Beehive Industries and Pratt & Whitney. The awards are part of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Propulsion Directorate’s initiative to mature engine designs in support of conceptual designs for CCA Increment 2 and other types of ACP, the Air Force says.

The Air Force adds the awards “are for the early stages of engine development, the initial design, with an option award and to complete the preliminary design review of new, next-generation engines in support of future ACP and CCA increments.”

The GE Aerospace and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions engine partnership, announced on Feb. 23, said it had won a $12.4 million contract to complete preliminary design of the jointly developed GEK1500 engine targeting missile and reusable uncrewed aircraft. The fast-paced GEK1500 development effort was announced in mid-2025 and builds on experience gained with the GEK800, an 800-lb.-thrust engine designed to power expendable vehicles, such as cruise missiles.
Honeywell also revealed it has received a prototype design contract from the U.S. Air Force’s Propulsion Directorate for its SkyShot 1600, a new small engine targeting the CCA market. Launched in September and originally called the HON1600, the new engine “supports thrust levels from 800-2,800 lb.,” Honeywell says, adding that the design can be configured as either a turbojet or turbofan, “with scalability for additional thrust as required.”

Beehive Industries is not commenting directly on the Air Force award but says in January it completed a “run-at-rate” production exercise to make 30 of its 200-lb.-thrust additively manufactured Frenzy engines to validate large-scale manufacturing capability. The Denver-based company says, however, it is “working on the same timeline to support CCA vehicles for Increment 2.” Beehive is also working with “vehicle partners” for flight tests in the second quarter. The ramp-up in production and test activity follows the successful conclusion of an altitude test campaign at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.

Pratt & Whitney also has yet to comment on the CCA award. The company plans to begin tests in 2026 of the first of a new family of scalable engines targeting CCAs and cruise missiles. Ranging from 500 lb. to 1,800 lb.-thrust, the engine series is derived from the additively manufactured TJ150 and builds on lessons learned from development of the GatorWorks FJ700 small turbofan.

“This design phase is crucial to evaluate what is in the 'art of the possible' before committing to the more expensive and complex phases of building and testing prototypes,” the Air Force says. “The ultimate goal is to develop engines that are affordable, high-performing and can be produced rapidly and at a large scale,” it adds.

The two larger CCA Increment 1 prototype aircraft, Anduril’s YFQ-44A and the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems YFA-42A, are powered by versions of the 3,600-lb.-thrust Williams FJ44-4.








 


U.S. Air Force’s X-62A Aircraft Hosts Lockheed Martin’s Tactical AI for Autonomous Missile-Evasion Tests.

26 Feb, 2026 - 9:32

Written by Teoman S. Nicanci 

Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works and the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School flew a tactical artificial intelligence agent aboard the X-62A VISTA F-16 to demonstrate autonomous missile-evasion maneuvers. The milestone moves AI from simulation into live fighter operations, signaling a potential shift in how the U.S. Air Force prepares for high-threat, integrated air defense environments.



Note: See photos in the original article. 

On 23 February 2026, Lockheed Martin announced that its Skunk Works division, in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, had successfully flown a tactical artificial intelligence agent aboard the X-62A VISTA to demonstrate autonomous missile-evasion maneuvers. The announcement describes how an AI system trained through extensive simulation was transitioned onto a live manned testbed, allowing it to control a fighter-class aircraft in dynamic flight conditions. Far from a mere technical showcase, the campaign is framed as a pivotal advance in human-machine teaming: software capable of perceiving, deciding, and adapting in real time alongside pilots, rather than passively automating preset tasks. For air forces preparing to operate in increasingly contested and integrated air defense environments, the ability to delegate critical split-second defensive actions to a validated AI agent signals profound operational and strategic implications.

Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School flew a tactical AI agent on the X-62A VISTA F-16 to demonstrate autonomous missile-evasion maneuvers in live flight (Picture Source: Lockheed Martin / U.S. Air Force)

The core of the programme is the Have Remy Test Management Project, a joint effort between Skunk Works engineers and U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (TPS) students using the X-62A VISTA as a high-performance autonomy testbed at Edwards Air Force Base. Under Have Remy, TPS students were brought into the full development loop, from defining the threat scenario to evaluating the behaviour of autonomous agents in flight. The scenario chosen was deliberately demanding: a missile-evasion profile requiring split-second decision-making and three-dimensional manoeuvring at the limits of the VISTA’s flight envelope, with the AI assuming direct control of the aircraft when a simulated surface-to-air missile launch was detected. In these test points, the onboard autonomy stack sensed the threat cue, generated an appropriate defensive response and flew the manoeuvre without the pilot touching the control column, while the safety crew remained ready to intervene.

To make such behaviour acceptable on a manned aircraft, Lockheed Martin relied on an intensive simulation-to-flight pipeline. The tactical AI agent was first trained in hours using billions of simulated missions run on Skunk Works’ Supermassive simulation engine, exposing it to a wide variety of engagement geometries, missile performance assumptions and initial conditions. A high-fidelity F-16 simulator, tuned to mirror both the aerodynamics and the modified flight control system of the VISTA, then allowed engineers and TPS students to validate the agent’s decision logic and handling-qualities impact before committing to real sorties. Only after this virtual test campaign did the AI move onto the X-62A for live evaluation, where it was flown through more than one hundred test points that demonstrated consistent transfer of the missile-evasion behaviour from simulation to the real aircraft.

The X-62A VISTA itself is central to this approach. Based on a two-seat F-16D, it has been heavily modified as a Variable In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft, with programmable flight-control laws, additional sensor suites and high-performance onboard computing that allow it to emulate other aircraft and host experimental autonomy software. Although the VISTA has previously flown AI agents under U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and DARPA programmes, this campaign marks the first time a Lockheed-developed tactical AI system has had direct control authority over the aircraft. In the missile-evasion tests, the AI was effectively integrated into the fly-by-wire loop, commanding control surfaces and thrust to execute three-axis manoeuvres that stayed within structural and handling limits while aggressively changing the aircraft’s aspect relative to the simulated threat.

Lockheed Martin presents Have Remy as more than a one-off demonstration; it is described as a model for the accelerated development of tactical AI. Engineers used a fly-fix-fly approach, replaying flight data in simulation to understand how the agent behaved, updating the autonomy stack and then redeploying refined versions back to the aircraft within hours. This real-to-sim and sim-to-real loop is intended to give AI engineers the kind of iterative, agile cycle common in software development while preserving the rigour expected in flight-test campaigns. For TPS students, being embedded in that loop provided hands-on exposure to monitoring, interpreting and constraining AI behaviour, including the development of new monitoring algorithms to quantify how closely real-world performance matches what was seen in synthetic environments. From an operational perspective, the work focuses squarely on one of the most demanding tasks in air combat: surviving modern surface-to-air missiles and air-to-air weapons launched within a severely compressed decision window, and showing that an autonomous agent can manage such engagements under realistic constraints.


Looking ahead, the tactical AI architectures demonstrated on the X-62A VISTA could, hypothetically and through careful, incremental validatio, transition onto other U.S. Air Force platforms as onboard tactical autonomy layers. In the near term, selected decision logics may be deployed as optional, tightly bounded assistance modes within current fourth- and fifth-generation fighters. These could recommend or autonomously execute pre-authorized evasive maneuvers when specific threat envelopes are detected, always preserving pilot authority and override capability. Over the longer horizon, similar AI agents might be integrated more deeply within collaborative combat aircraft concepts, forming the cognitive core of self-protection suites for uncrewed escorts operating alongside crewed fighters in contested airspace.

Even larger and more specialized assets, such as tankers, ISR aircraft, or stand-off jamming platforms, could, in principle, gain from derivative, mission-tailored implementations of this technology. Such systems would provide optimized last-resort escape options if a platform were unexpectedly drawn into a hostile engagement zone. While any operational deployment would depend on future policy, safety, and certification frameworks, the X-62A program already provides a tangible model for how a standardized, flight-proven autonomy stack could be adapted across a broad spectrum of air assets, enhancing survivability, efficiency, and mission resilience while keeping human operators decisively in command.

This latest milestone on the X-62A VISTA sits within a broader push in the United States toward collaborative combat aircraft and advanced human-machine teaming concepts. Previous autonomous trials on the same platform under other programmes showed that AI agents could safely conduct demanding within-visual-range manoeuvring in structured trials, while Have Remy shifts the emphasis explicitly to missile survivability and the transfer of complex, safety-critical behaviours from classroom to cockpit. For the U.S. Air Force, the underlying idea is that future pilots will fly in highly networked environments where threats emerge faster than a human can manually process sensor data, evaluate options and command the aircraft. In such a context, a trusted AI that can assume temporary control to execute an optimal escape manoeuvre, then hand back to the crew, offers a way to extend the pilot’s decision loop without removing the human from overall mission command.

By transferring a missile-evasion AI agent from massive simulation runs into more than a hundred live test points on a manned X-62A VISTA, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School have demonstrated that tactical autonomy is no longer confined to laboratories or small uncrewed demonstrators. The Have Remy project shows that an AI system can be trained, validated in high-fidelity simulators and then entrusted with direct control of a fighter-class aircraft for one of the most demanding tasks in air combat, while remaining fully supervised and overrideable by human pilots. As integrated air defences grow more capable and reaction times shrink, this combination of human judgment and machine-speed decision-making points toward a future in which survivability and mission effectiveness depend increasingly on tactical AI that is designed from the outset to decide, act and adapt alongside aircrews in contested skies.

Curt Lewis