F-16's AVEN Thrust Vectoring Nozzle Integrated with X-BAT's F110-GE-129 Engine

In a critical milestone towards the first flight later this year, Shield AI and GE Aerospace integrated the X-BAT with the AVEN thrust vectoring system which was tested in the 1990s on the F-16.

Shield AI's fighter-class X-BAT Vertical Take-Off Landing (VTOL) drone took a major step forward with the company announcing on Jun. 20, 2026, the integration of the Axisymmetric Vectoring Exhaust Nozzle (AVEN) with the General Electric F110-GE-129 engine that will power it. The company announced it had chosen the F110 back in November 2025.

Shield AI said the two companies "successfully completed integration, actuation, and engine light-off testing" of the AVEN. The specialized AVEN nozzle suits the X-BAT's unique launch and operation, providing the appropriate "thrust vectoring capability for vertical flight, launch, and landing," the company's release said.  

A video released by the company on Jul. 15 also showed the F110 undergoing "hotfire testing" in a wind tunnel facility, with three such powerplants visible. The video also showed a full-sized model of the aircraft being put through radar cross section testing in an anechoic chamber, wind tunnel trials, structural stress tests on the wing and, most importantly, the unique Launch and Recovery Vehicle for Tethered Flight. 

In our previous report, we had observed there were little details on this unidentified docking mechanism. The three deep slots seen on the LRVTF, corresponding to the X-BAT's underside, give an idea about the unique system being developed for runway independent operation.

The X-BAT, along with Lockheed Martin's Vectis high-end full-stealth UCAV, is one of the autonomous unmanned fighters expected to be pitched during the Increment 2 phase of the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. Shield AI had previously said it plans the first vertical take-off test for the X-BAT in 2026, a full system flight testing and operational validation in 2028 and launch of production by 2029. 

AVEN nozzle integrated with F110

The latest footage released by Shield AI shows the variable geometry nozzle performing various expansions, contractions and shape changes – functions it would have to undertake during various stages of the X-BAT's flight, including VTOL operations. "Engineers from both companies integrated the AVEN into the F110-GE-129E engine, then completed functional checkouts and engine light-off to verify system performance at GE Aerospace's test operations site in Peebles, Ohio," said the company.

"This is the first fully integrated test campaign of its kind since the 1990s, bringing AVEN's hardware, controls, and engine systems together to execute coordinated nozzle movement sequences using defined test protocols," added Shield AI's statement. The company further defined this as a "critical milestone in the program's path to vertical flight."

The F110-GE-129 powers the F-16 from the Block 50 onward, the F-15E Strike Eagle, the F-15K Slam Eagle, the F-15SA, the F-15QA and the F-15EX. The engine is Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC)-capable, with an intermediate thrust of 76.3 kN and full afterburner thrust of 131.2 kN.

The F110 was developed in the mid-1980s in response to an Air Force need for a 129 kN class engine that retained the durability, maintainability and reliability of the F100-PW-220 and F110-GE-100 powerplants. Pratt & Whitney and GE thus produced the F100-PW-229 and the F110-GE-129, respectively.

AVEN, F110 and X-BAT

The AVEN nozzle was originally installed on the experimental F-16 Multi-Axis Thrust Vectoring (MATV) aircraft – later designated the NF-16D Variable In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft (VISTA). It then became the X-62A VISTA in July 2021, and is currently testing various autonomous air combat AI agents developed by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and private contractors like Lockheed Martin.

Shield AI's senior vice president of aircraft engineering Armor Harris explained how the type of propulsion is key to the X-BAT's VTOL, fully runway- and airbase-independent capability. "The AVEN is what makes vertical flight possible on a platform this size and this capable. We're applying it differently than it was ever used before. Vertical flight requires fast gimbaling to maintain attitude control, a demand the original program never had to meet," Harris said.

"Taking hardware with a flight-proven track record and adapting it for that mission has let us move through development at an incredible pace instead of starting from zero. The next step is iterating on our propulsion approach to make future versions faster, lighter, and more capable," further said Harris. 

On the NF-16D VISTA, the AVEN nozzle accumulated 73 hours of ground testing and 135 flight hours across 95 flights in the 1990s. Now, the AVEN was refurbished and is "undergoing ground testing in preparation for flight test aboard the X-BAT prototype."

X-BAT

Powered by Shield AI's proprietary Hivemind AI autonomous flight software, X-BAT addresses key issues like unmanned aircraft that fly long with heavy payload while contending with constraints like available runways and airfields in contested battlespaces. Operating from existing merchant civilian vessels, naval surface warships, amphibious assault ships, aircraft carriers and remote islands, the X-BAT "can fly independently or as part of a force package alongside crewed aircraft." 

The drone can carry an ordnance payload of up to 2,000 pounds internally in each of its internal weapons bays, "comparable in size to the F-35's." The 80 kilowatts of power it generates can power Electronic Warfare and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance payloads and active and passive radar modes.

Shield AI says it is expected to have a combat radius of 1,000 miles. The drone has also been shown being able to operate the AGM-158, either the JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) or LRASM (Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile), and the AGM-154 JSOW (Joint Stand-Off Weapon).