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Pratt & Whitney selects PW500 turbofan to power Northrop Grumman’s YFQ-48A Talon Blue for USAF CCA flight evaluation

Pratt & Whitney will supply the engine for Northrop Grumman’s YFQ-48A Talon Blue, an additional design under evaluation in the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. Northrop’s self-funded single-engine concept will use a PW500 turbofan variant as it moves into next-gen CCA flight testing.

Discovered 2026-04-17T10:07:39.199194-07:00 | 2026-04-17T10:07:39.199194-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

  • The engine selection (PW500 for YFQ-48A) locks in the propulsion architecture for an uncrewed CCA candidate as the USAF narrows designs for further evaluation and eventual procurement.
  • For propulsion suppliers and airframe primes, the move signals a pathway for jet-turbofan OEM hardware to integrate into autonomous fighter prototypes—raising the stakes for sustainment, performance margins, and program scalability.
  • This comes right after Northrop Grumman formally named the YFQ-48A “Talon Blue” in the broader Project Talon/CCA effort (Northrop Grumman names YFQ-48A 'Talon Blue').

Reported By

milmag.pl AviationPros aero-defence.tech APAC Defence Reporter rtx.com airforce-technology.com
Sources Tracked
18
First Seen
2026-04-17T10:07:39.199194-07:00
Latest Update
2026-04-22T00:40:50.428838-07:00
Coverage
Defense

Sources

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