CINCINNATI, May 26, 2026, 13:03 EDT
GE Aerospace picked up a U.S. Air Force contract for its GE426 engine, pushing the company deeper into the fight to supply engines for autonomous combat planes expected to operate alongside crewed aircraft. The deal funds a preliminary design review, which is an early technical step before moving to pricier prototyping and trials, part of the Air Force’s medium-thrust Autonomous Collaborative Platform program.
The Air Force is moving to keep options open on drone-wingman engines. In February it split engine work among Beehive Industries, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney, and a GE-Kratos group. The service said picking more than one company would help avoid relying on a single supplier for future Autonomous Collaborative Platform and Collaborative Combat Aircraft, or CCA, needs.
CCA means uncrewed aircraft that work alongside piloted fighters, bringing more sensors, weapons or numbers, but without the price of a new piloted jet. In 2024, the Air Force picked General Atomics and Anduril to deliver detailed designs and test aircraft for the CCA’s first increment, Reuters reported.
GE traded up 2.8% to $311.41 in New York on Tuesday. Honeywell and Kratos each gained 1.8%.
GE hasn’t said how much the GE426 contract is worth. The award covers moving the prototype to the design-review stage and working on its capability, production and cost to meet Air Force requirements, according to AeroTime.
Steve “Doogie” Russell, vice president and general manager of Edison Works at GE Aerospace, said GE proved it can go fast “from concept to engine demonstration.” The GE426 effort is set to target “performance, affordability and readiness,” according to Russell. GE said it finished a concept design review for the GE426 engine in August 2025. GE Aerospace
GE426 is bigger than the company’s other drone-engine projects. According to Aviation Week, the engine can handle variants from 4,000 up to 9,000 pounds of thrust. That force is key to how much weight or speed an aircraft can get.
GE and Kratos are teaming up on the GEK800 and GEK1500 engines. Back in February, the companies said they got a $12.4 million award from the Air Force for GEK1500. That’s a 1,500-pound-thrust jet engine intended for unmanned systems, CCAs, and missiles.
Stacey Rock, who runs Kratos’ Turbine Technologies division, said the program demonstrated the team’s drive for “high-performance, affordable, jet engines” with fast production. The GE426 contract puts GE into a heavier segment. Kratos Defense
Honeywell says its SkyShot 1600 engine can deliver between 800 and 2,800 pounds of thrust, and can run as either a turbojet or a turbofan. “Cost, speed and performance demands” are driving development, said Dave Marinick, president of engines and power systems at Honeywell Aerospace Technologies. Honeywell Aerospace
But the GE426 award is only an early step. A preliminary design review does not mean production is certain, and GE has to prove the engine can meet cost, manufacturing and schedule goals for the Air Force’s planned aircraft buys in a field with more than one vendor.
GE didn’t say how much the contract is worth and there’s no word yet on any future funding, so it’s hard to gauge near-term revenue impact. But the award means GE now has a named medium-thrust engine, in addition to its smaller GEK programs. That gives the company a presence in a market where propulsion decisions are turning into a bigger part of the platform mix.
