Honeywell HON1600 small turbine engine targets USAF CCA

The HON1600 is a small turbine engine for CCAs, the highly autonomous uncrewed aircraft that will fly alongside crewed Gen 5 and Gen 6 fighters. Honeywell reports that the September 2025 core engine run achieved all of its test objectives.

Honeywell says the engine builds on a proven architecture from the size class of its most successful APU, while using all-new components, modern aerodynamics, current material systems and contemporary manufacturing methods, including additive manufacturing. The company states that this lowers cost, improves producibility and permits high-volume output.

Honeywell says the HON1600 satisfies what the Air Force asks of a CCA engine in terms of power, range and the ability to adapt to different missions. It also describes the engine as striking a balance between fuel efficiency and speed. According to John Turco, who is senior director of military turbofan engines, a CCA engine must offer a high thrust-to-weight ratio and efficient fuel use so that aircraft can fly long-range missions in contested environments.

Turco names unit affordability at production volume as the deciding requirement, since CCA fleets are expected to outnumber the crewed aircraft they support. T. J. Pope, who leads engine strategy and growth, notes that Honeywell produces over 2,000 turbines of this size annually. He says that output can readily cover CCA demand from the Air Force and allied military forces.

Why it matters

The Air Force plans to field CCAs as expendable aircraft that make its force more distributed, harder to target and more affordable against peer adversaries. They are to carry weapons, fly air-to-air and ISR missions, operate as wingmen or as individual autonomous platforms, and join swarms without direct human supervision.

General Atomics and Anduril Industries received the Air Force’s Increment 1 selection to build prototype aircraft. Ground testing of those prototypes is in progress, with flight testing due to begin soon. The Increment 2 propulsion solicitation includes a prototype phase, in which Honeywell intends to present the HON1600.

Honeywell Aerospace (company profile) has produced about 150,000 turbine propulsion engines and APUs over 50 years. Honeywell’s auxiliary power units are installed on almost all commercial aircraft operating today, and on many military rotary-wing and fixed-wing platforms as well.