Defense & Military
Kratos and GE Aerospace Complete Altitude Testing of GEK800 Engine
Kratos and GE Aerospace achieve a key milestone with the GEK800 engine, enabling advanced unmanned aircraft for US defense.
Powering the Future: Kratos and GE Aerospace Hit Key Milestone with GEK800 Engine
In the world of defense technology, progress is often measured in milestones. A recent announcement from Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and GE Aerospace marks one such critical achievement. The successful completion of altitude, durability, and limits testing for their GEK800 engine is more than just a technical validation; it represents a significant step forward in powering the next generation of unmanned Military-Aircraft. This development is pivotal as the U.S. military shifts its strategy towards a concept known as “affordable mass”, building a formidable fleet of effective, lower-cost unmanned systems to complement its traditional crewed fighters.
The GEK800 engine is specifically designed for this new era of air combat. It is poised to become the heart of advanced Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), cruise missiles, and, most notably, the U.S. Air Force’s high-priority Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. These CCAs, often called “loyal wingmen,” are semi-autonomous Drones designed to fly alongside crewed jets, multiplying a mission’s capabilities without putting more pilots at risk. The success of this engine program is a direct enabler of this futuristic vision, promising a Propulsion system that meets the stringent performance and cost requirements necessary to build out a planned fleet of at least 1,000 CCAs.
This achievement is the fruit of a powerful strategic Partnerships, formally established in June 2025, that combines Kratos’s agile, rapid-development ethos with GE Aerospace’s century of propulsion expertise and high-rate production capability. The rigorous testing, conducted at Purdue University’s world-renowned Zucrow Laboratories, pushed the engine to its operational boundaries, proving its robustness and clearing a path toward mass production. This collaboration isn’t just building an engine; it’s forging a critical piece of the defense industrial base needed to maintain a technological edge in the years to come.
A Technical Triumph at a Premier Facility
The series of tests completed in late October 2025 were comprehensive and demanding. Conducted at Purdue University’s Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories, the largest academic propulsion lab in the world, the GEK800 was subjected to a battery of trials designed to simulate real-world combat conditions. This included altitude testing to ensure performance in the thin air of high altitudes, durability trials to prove its reliability over time, and limits testing to intentionally push the engine to its breaking point. According to GE Aerospace, the joint team successfully identified the engine’s rotor speed limits and compressive system boundaries, validating its outstanding performance and durability.
The choice of venue was as significant as the tests themselves. The trials marked the inaugural use of the newly expanded ZL9 test facility at Zucrow Labs for an engine test of this nature. This state-of-the-art facility allowed the team to simulate the harsh environments the engine will one day operate in. The collaboration between Kratos, GE Aerospace, and the university’s experts was praised for its efficiency and technical excellence. Daniel Fineberg, the Kratos GEK800 Test Coordination Lead, noted that the joint team “successfully met nearly all test objectives while also validating the capability to conduct this style of testing within a newly commissioned facility.”
The GEK800 is an 800-pound-thrust class jet engine, a product of over a decade of initial development and ground testing by Kratos. The partnership with GE Aerospace, which began informally in 2023, has dramatically accelerated its progress, with over 50 engine starts completed during ground testing before this crucial altitude phase. The engine’s architecture is also designed for scalability, with plans for variants producing up to 3,000 pounds of thrust. A 1,500-pound-thrust version, the GEK1500, is already in development, demonstrating a clear roadmap for powering a wide range of future unmanned platforms.
“Successfully completing altitude testing marks a major milestone in the GEK800 engine program and demonstrates the strength of our partnership with GE Aerospace, AFRL, and Purdue University’s Zucrow Laboratories.” – Stacey Rock, President of Kratos Turbine Technologies.
Strategic Implications and the Dawn of “Affordable Mass”
The success of the GEK800 program extends far beyond the engineering lab. It is a cornerstone of the Pentagon’s evolving defense strategy, which emphasizes the concept of “affordable mass.” This doctrine calls for supplementing expensive, crewed fighter jets with large quantities of less expensive, “attritable” unmanned aircraft. These platforms are effective enough to be decisive in combat but affordable enough that their loss does not constitute a catastrophic strategic or financial blow. This approach aims to counter adversaries by leveraging numerical superiority and overwhelming their defenses.
The Kratos-GE Aerospace partnership is perfectly positioned to deliver on this vision. Kratos contributes over 25 years of experience in developing small, affordable engines, focusing on agile design and cost-effective solutions. GE Aerospace brings its unparalleled legacy in propulsion technology and, critically, the industrial might to scale advanced designs into high-rate production. This synergy bridges the notorious gap between a successful prototype and a mass-produced, field-ready product, a challenge that has often hindered defense innovation.
The primary application for the GEK800 is the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, a key component of the Air Force’s Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative. CCAs will act as force multipliers, controlled by pilots in nearby F-35s or future sixth-generation fighters. They can be tasked with missions like reconnaissance, electronic warfare, or carrying extra munitions, extending the reach and capability of the crewed fleet while keeping pilots safer. The viability of this entire concept hinges on the availability of reliable, affordable propulsion systems like the GEK800. The involvement of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) further underscores the program’s significance to national defense.
Conclusion: A New Chapter in Aerial Warfare
The successful altitude testing of the GEK800 engine is a landmark achievement for Kratos and GE Aerospace, but its true significance lies in what it enables. This milestone validates a critical piece of technology required to bring the U.S. military’s vision for next-generation air combat to life. By proving the engine’s performance and durability, the program moves from the realm of development into the tangible path toward production, promising to power the fleets of unmanned systems that will define the future battlespace.
Looking forward, the scalability of the GEK engine family and the robust industrial partnership behind it suggest a sustained impact on the defense landscape. As the GEK800 moves closer to deployment, it will fuel the strategic shift towards “affordable mass,” fundamentally changing the calculus of air warfare. This engine is more than just a piece of hardware; it is an enabler of a new doctrine, a new generation of aircraft, and a new era of national security capability.
FAQ
Question: What is the GEK800 engine?
Answer: The GEK800 is an 800-pound-thrust class jet engine developed by Kratos and GE Aerospace. It is designed to power next-generation unmanned systems, including cruise missiles and Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs).
Question: What is the significance of the successful altitude testing?
Answer: Completing altitude testing is a major technical milestone that validates the engine’s performance, durability, and design under simulated real-world conditions. It moves the engine significantly closer to being ready for mass production and deployment in military aircraft.
Question: What is the “Collaborative Combat Aircraft” (CCA) program?
Answer: The CCA program is a U.S. Air Force initiative to develop semi-autonomous, unmanned aircraft, or “loyal wingmen,” that will fly alongside crewed fighter jets. These UAV will act as force multipliers, performing tasks like surveillance, electronic warfare, and carrying additional weapons to enhance the capabilities of the overall force.
Sources
Photo Credit: Kratos
Defense & Military
L3Harris Completes First 35 Viper Shield Production Units
L3Harris reaches a production milestone for the AN/ALQ-254(V)1 Viper Shield, with 233 units on backlog for eight allied F-16 operators.
L3Harris Technologies has completed manufacturing the first 35 production units of its Viper Shield electronic warfare system, initiating a production ramp-up to fulfill a 233-unit backlog for international F-16 Fighting Falcon operators.
In a press release issued on September 3, 2026, the company announced the milestone at its Clifton, New Jersey, facility. The event also marked the assembly of the first external pod configuration utilizing production-standard hardware. The AN/ALQ-254(V)1 Viper Shield currently stands as the only F-16 electronic warfare suite in active production.
Fulfilling the international backlog
L3Harris is scaling operations to meet demand from eight allied nations that have collectively ordered 233 Viper Shield systems. These international operators have contributed to a $1 billion shared investment funding the development, laboratory testing, flight testing, and current production of the suite.
“The foreign investment is funding development, lab testing, flight testing and current production of Viper Shield systems, which presents the United States with a savings opportunity to avoid upfront costs,” said Chris Aebli, President, Communications & Spectrum Dominance, L3Harris.
Aebli noted that this shared investment means the U.S. Air-Forces and Air National Guard could benefit from joining the program without bearing the initial development burden.
Recent flight testing and fleet integration
The production milestone follows a series of recent technical and commercial validations for the Viper Shield program. On August 5, 2026, L3Harris reported the completion of two-ship flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. During these tests, F-16C and F-16D models flew together with Viper Shield hardware to validate the digital architecture and real-time response capabilities in multi-aircraft scenarios.
Shortly after the Edwards Air Force Base tests, the government of Peru officially selected the Viper Shield system on August 18, 2026, for its incoming F-16 Block 70 fleet. The system is designed to be fully interoperable with the APG-83 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, a standard component of the Block 70/72 configuration and a common upgrade for legacy F-16 airframes.
AirPro News analysis
We note that L3Harris is leveraging international procurement to mature the Viper Shield system before heavily marketing it to domestic operators. By relying on foreign military sales to fund the $1 billion development and testing phase, the manufacturer has effectively de-risked the AN/ALQ-254(V)1 for the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard. As legacy F-16 fleets undergo radar upgrades to the APG-83 AESA, the interoperability of the Viper Shield positions it as a logical bolt-on enhancement for operators looking to modernize their electronic warfare capabilities without funding a clean-sheet development program.
Sources: L3Harris Technologies
Photo Credit: L3Harris Technologies
Defense & Military
Hermeus Selects Anduril Lattice for Quarterhorse Mk 2
Hermeus partners with Anduril to integrate Lattice autonomy software into the Mach 3 Quarterhorse Mk 2, targeting autonomous flight in 2027.
Hermeus has selected Anduril Industries to integrate the Lattice for Mission Autonomy software into the Quarterhorse Mk 2 high-speed uncrewed aircraft, marking Anduril’s first commercial agreement to supply its autonomy solution for a third-party Group 5 platform.
Announced in a joint press release on September 3, 2026, the partnership aims to achieve the first autonomous flight of the Quarterhorse Mk 2 in 2027. The integration aligns with the United States Air Force (USAF) Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program’s push for modular systems, demonstrating that advanced hardware and software can be developed independently and combined for high-Mach environments.
Advancing high-Mach autonomous capabilities
The Quarterhorse program, supported by funding from the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), targets speeds of Mach 3. Hermeus has maintained an aggressive development timeline, flying its first aircraft in 2025 and reaching supersonic speeds with the Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 exactly 364 days later. The company is currently preparing to fly the Mk 2.2 variant, which was constructed in under a year.
Anduril’s Lattice Software will serve as the core mission planning and execution engine for the Mk 2. Operators will interface with the aircraft using Anduril’s Menace-T command, control, communications, and computing (C4) solution. This system is already utilized by USAF operators to generate sorties with semi-autonomous aircraft.
Speaking to Breaking Defense, Hermeus Chief Executive Officer Zach Shore explained the operational necessity of the Partnerships and the need for scalable command-and-control systems.
“We now need to automate a lot of those flight controls. I want to be able to push a button, have the aircraft spin up, have the aircraft auto takeoff, all those basic features that allow one person to manage multiple platforms,” Shore told the publication.
Validating modular architecture for the CCA program
The agreement serves as a practical application of the Autonomy Government Reference Architecture (A-GRA) standard. By separating the airframe development from the autonomy software, the partnership mirrors the acquisition strategy of the USAF CCA program.
Anduril noted in its September 3 press release that the Hermeus contract validates this focus on modularity. Establishing a common standard ensures cross-compatibility between disparate hardware and software systems, which the company states will accelerate the deployment of autonomous Military-Aircraft.
Brett Darcey, Anduril’s General Manager and Vice President for Mission Autonomy in Air Dominance and Strike, emphasized the maturity of the integration in comments to Breaking Defense.
“We really want to emphasize the fullness of the stack. This isn’t just a mission autonomy science project. This is really readying the Quarterhorse for [autonomous operations],” Darcey stated.
AirPro News analysis
We view this integration as a critical test case for the Pentagon’s broader uncrewed Aviation strategy. If Anduril’s Lattice can successfully manage a third-party airframe operating at Mach 3, it will prove that the A-GRA standard is viable for extreme flight envelopes, not just subsonic loyal wingman platforms. The 2027 flight test will be a major milestone for both companies, potentially opening the door for Anduril to market its autonomy stack to other aerospace Manufacturers while allowing Hermeus to focus entirely on its high-speed propulsion and aerodynamic challenges.
Sources: Anduril Industries
Photo Credit: Anduril Industries
Defense & Military
MAFFS Surpasses One Million Gallons in 2026 Fire Season
Military MAFFS crews delivered over 1.07M gallons of fire retardant by Aug 31, 2026, exceeding the totals of the previous two years.
Military-Aircraft aircrews operating the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) surpassed one million gallons of fire retardant delivered across the western United States on August 28, 2026, underscoring the severity of a wildfire season that has already eclipsed the total aerial firefighting volumes of the previous two years.
According to an official release from the U.S. National Guard on September 2, 2026, the running total of retardant dropped by MAFFS-equipped Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft reached 1,070,017 gallons by August 31. The program provides critical surge capacity for the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) when commercial and federal contract airtankers are fully committed to existing incidents.
Surge capacity in a demanding fire season
The 2026 season ranks among the busiest of the past decade for military aerial firefighting units. The current volume of 1,070,017 gallons significantly exceeds the 410,810 gallons delivered in all of 2025 and the 871,205 gallons dropped in 2024.
While 2026 has seen elevated activity, the busiest MAFFS season of the past decade remains 2021, which saw 2,583,204 gallons delivered, followed by 1,350,298 gallons in 2020. With weeks potentially remaining in the current fire season, the final 2026 figures are expected to climb further.
Col. Jason Little, Commander of the MAFFS Air Expeditionary Group, emphasized the program’s role in supporting civilian agencies during periods of high demand.
“We serve as a surge capability, and our responsibility is to be as prepared and effective as possible when called upon,” Little stated. “We do our best to integrate seamlessly with the federal and state agencies committed to wildland firefighting.”
Multi-unit military coordination
The MAFFS mission requires coordination across multiple military branches and state lines. Operations for the 2026 season are being coordinated from Reno, Nevada, drawing on resources from across the western United States.
The effort comprises crews from the 146th Airlift Wing of the California Air National Guard, the 152nd Airlift Wing of the Nevada Air National Guard, the 153rd Airlift Wing of the Wyoming Air National Guard, and the 302nd Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command based in Colorado. These units operate C-130 aircraft fitted with specialized MAFFS roll-on/roll-off equipment, allowing standard tactical airlifters to function temporarily as heavy airtankers.
AirPro News analysis
The rapid accumulation of MAFFS flight hours and retardant drops in 2026 highlights a growing reliance on military surge capabilities to manage domestic natural disasters. As commercial airtanker fleets face high utilization rates early in the fire season, the strategic value of the MAFFS program becomes increasingly apparent. We note that the year-over-year volatility in retardant volumes, fluctuating from just over 410,000 gallons in 2025 to over a million before September in 2026, presents ongoing readiness and funding challenges for the participating Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units. These squadrons must balance unpredictable domestic support missions with their primary military readiness and global airlift requirements.
Sources: U.S. National Guard
Photo Credit: Senior Master Sgt. Paula Macomber
-
UAV & Drones7 days agoFAA Completes First Remotely Piloted eVTOL Cargo Flight
-
Airlines Strategy4 days agoSouthwest Airlines to Launch First Airport Lounges in 2027
-
Technology & Innovation4 days agoArcher Aviation Launches No Roads eVTOL Tour Ahead of LA28
-
UAV & Drones4 days agoNAVAIR Issues RFI for Carrier-Based Autonomous Combat Drone
-
Space & Satellites3 days agoNASA Awards Blue Origin $700M Mars Telecommunications Contract