Pratt & Whitney Engine Powers Northrop Grumman’s YFQ-48A CCA Drone

Pratt & Whitney has supplied the engine for Northrop Grumman’s YFQ-48A Talon Blue drone, pitched for the US Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program.

The propulsion system comes from the PW500 commercial engine family with more than 24.5 million logged flight hours, and has been adapted for CCA mission requirements through close collaboration between Pratt & Whitney and Northrop. 

The RTX-owned company has expanded the engine’s commercial limits, simulating flight and operational conditions tailored to the drone’s intended missions. It is already installed in the YFQ-48A and ready for flight tests. 

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

Talon Blue

Northrop unveiled “Project Talon” in December 2025, featuring a new design shaped by feedback from its failed bid in the first increment of the US Air Force’s CCA program seeking autonomous platforms to fly alongside crewed fighter jets.

At the time, the drone reportedly performed well but was considered too costly. 

Shortly after its unveiling, the air force designated the system as the YFQ-48A. 

It became the third to receive a Mission Design Series designation under the effort, following General Atomics’ YFQ-42A and Anduril’s YFQ-44A, the two main competitors in the CCA’s first increment.