[3D Printing] Major aero engine manufacturer begins full-scale testing of 3D-printed engines for missiles and drones

TJ150 Structure Utilizes Additive Manufacturing for Approximately 60% of its Components

On July 20, during the Farnborough International Airshow, Pratt & Whitney announced that it had completed demonstration testing of a 3D-printed version of the TJ150 engine.

According to the company, approximately 60% of the engine's structure by volume is manufactured via additive manufacturing, including critical static and rotating components.

The tests focused on validating how the build material performs under actual operating conditions and whether the engine can meet the durability requirements necessary for its missions.

TJ150: A Small Turbine Engine for Expendable Air Platforms

Despite its compact size, the TJ150 delivers over 150 pounds of thrust and is designed for efficient operation at high altitudes.

According to Pratt & Whitney, its primary applications are cruise missiles and autonomous platforms intended for single-use missions. One example is the Miniature Air-Launched Decoy (MALD), which, as a low-cost decoy platform for jamming and deceiving radar air defense systems, has stringent requirements for both low observability and mass-production costs.

The engine is also used in the "Black Arrow," a small cruise missile developed by Dynetics, a Leidos subsidiary. This missile was officially designated as the AGM-190A by the U.S. Air Force this past February. It achieves a flight speed of Mach 0.8 and a cruise altitude of approximately 30,000 feet, and has already completed guided flight tests from an AC-130J gunship.

According to Pratt & Whitney, over 2,700 TJ150 engines have been delivered to customers around the world to date.

The Real Highlight: Transitioning from Conventional Methods to 3D Printing

The noteworthy aspect of this test lies not just in the engine itself, but in the adoption of the new 3D-printed version.

Pratt & Whitney’s advanced projects team, GATORWORKS, led the initial structural redesign of the TJ150, collaborating with the company's internal engineering and manufacturing teams, as well as the RTX Technology Research Center. Using a modular approach, they integrated over 50 individual components that previously made up the high-temperature section into a few large printed parts.

Within Pratt & Whitney, GATORWORKS specializes in such projects that require rapid proposal development and prototyping.

The 3D-printed version simplifies the assembly process due to the lower parts count, and by reducing the number of joints, it also minimizes potential points of failure.

According to the company, the team completed the entire sequence from design to testing entirely in-house in just eight months, representing a significant reduction compared to conventional jet engine development timelines.

The Biggest Challenge: 3D Printing High-Speed Rotating Turbine Components

Rotating components are particularly difficult.

While additive manufacturing technology for static structures in high-temperature sections is relatively mature, turbine wheels must rotate at high speeds in high-temperature, high-pressure environments, subjecting them to mechanical and thermal stresses on an entirely different level. Consequently, manufacturing has traditionally been dominated by forging and precision machining.

Pratt & Whitney conducted stand-alone testing of a 3D-printed turbine wheel in 2025, and this time, they integrated it into the full engine to validate it under operating conditions closely mimicking actual missions.

Applying the TJ150 Experience to the Next-Generation Valox Engine Series

Test results indicate that the 3D-printed rotating components have completed necessary validation. Pratt & Whitney is now extending the additive manufacturing experience gained from the TJ150 project to its next-generation Valox engine series.

Jill Albertelli, President of Military Engines at Pratt & Whitney, stated that because expendable engines like the TJ150 are often limited to mission times of minutes to hours, simplifying design and improving production capability will be key development strategies.

According to official announcements, Valox is a scalable engine family covering 500 to 1,800 pounds of thrust, targeting new platforms such as cruise missiles and autonomous collaborative combat aircraft.

The smaller Valox 700 within the family is being developed with Pratt & Whitney’s internal funding and is intended primarily for platforms like cruise missiles and drones.

The larger Valox 1500 secured a funding contract exceeding $10 million from the U.S. Air Force. This project is also led by the GATORWORKS team, with the goal of powering ongoing drone wingman programs.

Increasing Competition in the Small Jet Engine Market

On July 21, Pratt & Whitney announced that the Valox 1500 had achieved a major design milestone. However, they are not the only company working in this field.

Honeywell's SkyShot 1600 and the GEK1500, jointly developed by GE Aerospace and Kratos, are also developing propulsion systems in a similar thrust class.

Around the same time, the U.S. Air Force provided funding to Beehive Industries for similar development. Furthermore, GE and Rolls-Royce have been separately selected to research engines in higher thrust classes.

Why Prioritize Validating Additive Manufacturing with These Types of Engines?

There is a clear engineering rationale behind Pratt & Whitney choosing to prioritize the validation of 3D printing technology for cruise missiles and expendable platforms.

The mission life of these types of engines is limited to minutes or hours, unlike civilian aircraft engines which must withstand cycles of repeated takeoffs, landings, maintenance, and overhauls over 20 to 30 years. Consequently, the product lifecycles and validation conditions differ, making these applications more suitable for the further advancement of additive manufacturing validation.

On the other hand, the pressure to meet order volumes and delivery paces remains significant. In cases where it is difficult to quickly expand traditional forging and machining facilities and supply chains, metal additive manufacturing offers significant value in terms of shortening processes, integrating components, and improving production flexibility.

Crucial Validation for Metal 3D-Printed Jet Engines

For the past few years, manufacturing rotating components for the high-temperature sections of jet engines has been considered one of the most technically demanding applications of metal 3D printing. This is a primary reason why Pratt & Whitney is highlighting the testing of the 3D-printed turbine wheel so significantly this time.

This test demonstrates that metal additive manufacturing has taken another step forward toward application in actual jet engine operating environments.

At this moment, whether this approach to 3D printing can be directly applied to large, high-bypass turbofan engines for commercial aircraft is a different question. Commercial aircraft engines require much stricter reliability requirements, airworthiness certification, and durability for decades of operation, presenting vastly different technical hurdles.

However, for applications where cost, lead time, and mass production are prioritized—such as cruise missiles, decoy platforms, and autonomous air platforms—metal additive manufacturing is demonstrating new manufacturing possibilities.

From Pursuing Extreme Performance to Realizing Rapid Mass Production

As mentioned at the beginning, the mission life of engines like the TJ150 differs from that of conventional jet engines.

Looking at the broader picture, a series of plans concerning cruise missiles and autonomous air platforms includes a concept from the U.S. Air Force called "Family of Affordable Mass-producible Munitions" (FAMM). One of its core philosophies is not just the pursuit of maximum performance, but how to improve the cost-efficiency and mass-production capability of relevant equipment.

The reason 3D printing is attracting attention from a manufacturing standpoint is its potential to reduce the part count of complex aircraft components, shorten assembly processes, increase production flexibility, and transition to mass production more rapidly.