A fighter jet that needs no runway is a step closer to flight. Shield AI and GE Aerospace say they have completed engine light-off testing for the X-BAT. It is an AI-piloted strike aircraft, built to take off and land vertically. The two firms announced the milestone this week.
The nozzle that does the trick
The key part is a nozzle. Engineers slotted an Axisymmetric Vectoring Exhaust Nozzle, or AVEN, into GE’s F110-GE-129E engine. Then they fired it up at a test site in Peebles, Ohio. The nozzle pivots the engine’s exhaust in three dimensions. That lets the jet steer with its thrust. It can also balance on its tailpipe to rise and land straight up.
The hardware is not new. Engineers built AVEN for an experimental F-16 programme in the 1990s. It logged 73 hours of ground testing and 135 flight hours, then went into storage. Shield AI refurbished the old nozzle and pressed it back into service. The firm calls this the first fully integrated test of the system since the 1990s.
“X-BAT is designed to take off and land vertically from anywhere, no airbase, no runway,” said Armor Harris, a senior vice president at Shield AI.
