Pratt & Whitney completes detailed review for NGAP design

Pratt & Whitney has completed a detailed design review for its Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion offering for the Air Force, the company announced today.

The XA103 prototype effort can now begin procuring hardware to construct the engine’s ground demonstrator, according to the news release.

“For decades, propulsion has been a key differentiator for the United States, and we are working with the U.S. Air Force to make sure it stays that way,” said Chris Flynn, vice president of Military Development Programs at Pratt & Whitney. “Collaborating with the U.S. Air Force, we have supported every generation of jet engine development since World War II. XA103, our adaptive engine for the future, will continue to advance our digital and agile design and development capabilities while advancing the propulsion capability for the warfighter.”

The engine’s adaptive architecture will allow its components to adjust to optimize fuel efficiency and survivability as well as power and thermal management, according to Pratt, which is a subsidiary of RTX.

Last month, the Air Force awarded Pratt and GE Aerospace indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity modification contracts for up to $3.5 billion each to take their respective NGAP engine designs into prototyping.

GE announced yesterday that its XA102 had passed its detailed design review.

NGAP is set to be used in unspecified upcoming aircraft. It has long been tied to the Next Generation Air Dominance platform, but that program has been delayed.

Following a deferral by the previous administration, President Trump’s team is set to make a decision on how or whether to pursue NGAD.