Executive Summary
CCA is accelerating. USAF is preparing Increment II “concept-refinement” awards in early FY-26 after soliciting >20 vendors, while Increment I flight milestones approach in October. Goal is to select a small number to be put on contracts.
- Air Force continues studying both low-end (lower cost) and high-end (more exquisite) designs with a decision that could include one or both options.
- GE, Pratt & Whitney, Honeywell, and Rolls-Royce each advanced small, scalable turbofan/turbojet families aimed at CCAs—with recent ground/altitude test data and new product announcements.
- Budget & strategy remain steady. FY-25 CCA RDT&E sits at ~$557M within USAF’s NGAD family—pointing to sustained multi-year propulsion demand signals across classes. (Congress.gov)
Where does CCA stand now?
- Increment I flight timing: Senior leadership continues to signal first flights in mid-October for one vendor, with parallel Navy CCA concept work proceeding (Boeing, GA, Anduril, Northrop engaged on the Navy side). (Breaking Defense)
- Lockheed announced the Vectis prototype without discounting it could also be a candidate for increment II as a potential candidate should the US Air Force need a highly survivable and flexible platform.
- Increment II pipeline: Air Force plans to place concept-refinement contracts in early FY-26; >20 vendors were initially tapped—expect a broader propulsion tradespace than Increment I. (Breaking Defense)
- USAF funding anchor: FY-25 RDT&E request ~$557M for CCA, nested within NGAD family—fueling multi-year engine maturation and flight-test throughput. (Congress.gov)
- Prime roster & navy crossover: Anduril + General Atomics lead USAF Increment I; both (with Boeing/Northrop) also hold Navy CCA concept work—suggesting propulsion interfaces will be service-agnostic where possible. (Airforce Technology)
Propulsion deep dive: who’s doing what
GE Aerospace + Kratos: GEK800 climbs the envelope
- What’s new: GE and Kratos report >50 engine starts and altitude testing underway on the ~800-lbf GEK800 small engine aimed at UAS/CCA/missile applications. (GE Aerospace)
- Why it matters: A modular small-engine with missile-class responsiveness gives CCA designers options for cost, range, and sortie rate. The combination of Kratos’ small engine simplicity with GE’s jet engine design capabilities, material databases and manufacturing capabilities make for a potentially strong partnership – assuming clear collaboration and agreement on design principles and requirements.
Pratt & Whitney (RTX): a new small-turbofan family + thrust growth on legacy cores
- What’s new? P&W unveiled a 500–1,800 lbf small-turbofan family targeted at low-cost cruise missiles and CCAs, emphasizing scalability and maneuver performance. Separately, recent tests show thrust-growth headroom in existing small engines for CCA use. (Flight Global)
- Why it matters: P&Ws broader family approach lets primes match power class to mission (sensor truck, shooter, decoy) without wholesale airframe redesign
Honeywell: HON1600
- What’s new: Honeywell debuted HON1600, a small-thrust-class engine designed for CCA/UAS, citing up to 40,000 ft ops, high-G maneuvering, and a low-cost, 3D-print-friendly architecture that can be configured as turbojet or turbofan. (Honeywell Aerospace)
- Honeywell also offering the TF124 derived from the civilian TFE731 lineage (via the TFE1042 military derivative)as a competitive option for CCA if a middle thrust class (≈ 6,000 lbf) fits the design envelope. Honeywell is banking on it being their “lead offering” into CCA.
- Why it matters: The manufacturing playbook—high-volume processes + additive—directly targets unit cost and rate, leveraging extensive experience manufacturing auxiliary power units, whose supply chain and production facilities can be repurposed for producing small engines – two gating factors for fielding “affordable mass” applications.
Rolls-Royce Orpheus: scalable cores and rapid methods
- What’s known: RR continues to message common-core versatility and additive-enabled cycle time cuts (up to ~50%) with its twin-spool Orpheus engine for next-gen autonomous aircraft.
- Why it matters: RR’s scalable core and rapid dev toolkit could give primes non-USAF-unique options (incl. allies) without starting from scratch.
Others?
Williams International:
- Characteristically quiet about their activities, Williams powers at least one CCA airframe – Anduril’s YFQ-44 “Fury” (CCA Increment I winner). The aircraft is publicly reported to use a Williams FJ44-4M class engine. As a key small turbofan player in the thrust class relevant to CCAs, It would be expected that Williams would be highly-focused on the space but no announcements are known to date on a bespoke engine.
- Capacity expansion: Williams received a $253.7M Defense Production Act award in 2024 and announced a $1B Florida campus – both framed around scaling engines for weapons /DOD demand.
Beehive Industries:
- Emerging entrant Beehive has made significant progress with their vertically-integrated, additively-enabled propulsion systems – applying 3D metal printing techniques across the design, manufacture and testing of engines – from powder to finished engines.
- The company has been developing their Frenzy class of engines in the 100-300 lbf, Rampart engines for the CCA market and a 500 lbf demonstrator. Beehive is targeting development of a family of engines in the 100-3000 lbf market.
What this means for propulsion suppliers & MRO
- Multiple thrust classes will coexist. Expect a range of turbofans tuned by mission (sensor carrier vs. shooter vs. sacrificial decoy) as requirements evolve between low-cost or more-exquisite platforms – or both.
- Design for interchangeability across pylons/mission kits.
- Manufacturability is a discriminator. Demonstrating advantages of high additive content and high-volume methods are now core to engine roadmaps—NPI plans should assume shorter EMD cycles and earlier rate ramps.
- Engines bridging CCA and air-breathing weapons will win on learning curves, spares pooling, and test infrastructure reuse.
- Think “squadron-level swap + depot-level refurb” with health-monitoring sized for attrition-tolerant assets—contracting likely to blend availability with ceiling pricing for surge production.
For clients & suppliers: immediate actions
- Engage early on engine/airframe trades. If you’re a major subsystem vendor, align on thrust-class roadmaps now to avoid late-stage integration churn.
- Qualify additive suppliers. Map critical parts to additive-capable vendors; run process capability and NDT pilots aligned to expected rates.
- Design for sustainment. Prototype line-replaceable propulsion modules, with data capture sized for requirements and attritable economics (avoid gold-plating).
- Plan contracting strategies. Prepare for availability-style propulsion support with optioned surge lots and indexed materials clauses tied to powder and castings markets.
Here’s some further reading:
- USAF Increment II timing and vendor outreach. (Breaking Defense)
- GEK800 development and altitude testing. (GE Aerospace)
- Pratt & Whitney small-turbofan family and thrust-growth testing. (Flight Global)
- Honeywell HON1600 reveal and manufacturing approach. (Thomasnet)
- Rolls-Royce/LibertyWorks scalable core messaging & rapid methods. (rolls-royce.com)
- USAF CCA budget context (CRS). (Congress.gov)
Need a deeper dive?
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) market is approaching and evolving quickly with both emerging and legacy companies playing key roles. Want to learn more and explore how our propulsion experts can help you navigate these opportunities?
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