Northrop Grumman's YFQ-48A Talon Blue CCA to be Powered by Pratt & Whitney Engine

Northrop Grumman has chosen a Pratt & Whitney PW500 engine for its YFQ-48A Talon Blue Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).

The engine has already been integrated into the aircraft, and it is now awaiting flight tests.

To ensure all requirements were met and integration was possible, Pratt & Whitney has been working with Northrop Grumman and completing an engine test program for its PW500 family.

This testing—designed to extend commercial use of the engine for the Talon Blue autonomous wingman—involved flight and operational simulations to ensure acceptable range, thrust and operability for CCA missions.

Vice President of Military Development Programs at Pratt & Whitney Peter Sommerkorn said, "Leveraging commercial technology allowed us to innovate faster, while balancing cost and critical performance enhancements for the CCA mission."

Sommerkorn added, "The Pratt & Whitney team took a production engine, with more than 24.5 million flight hours, self-invested in key validation and capability improvement, and integrated it into Talon Blue."

Pratt & Whitney is an RTX business.