Aurora Flight Sciences and DARPA are continuing the assembly of the X-65 CRANE demonstrator, targeting a first flight by 2027.
Aurora Flight Sciences’ (AFS) latest X-Plane, now designated the X-65, is taking its final shape. The company unveiled the fuselage of the unmanned demonstrator, which uses Active Flow Control (AFC) in place of conventional control surfaces, in two images in Feb. 24, 2026 and Apr. 2 on social media.
The aircraft is still missing the wings and the canted tails. The company said it is currently fusing the AFC-related components, systems and electronics into the fuselage, looking at a first flight in 2027.
Part of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) program, in the works since 2020, the development program is now in its Phase 3. This stage involves flying a 7,000 pound demonstrator to validate the aeronautical concept, before AFC systems are incorporated into a full-sized aircraft.
#ICYMI The X-65 fuselage has arrived! Our teams are now integrating electrical, propulsion, and AFC systems into the fuselage in Virginia, while wing and tail manufacturing is advancing in West Virginia. Stay tuned for updates as we progress toward first flight, planned for 2027. pic.twitter.com/uZ4FL0sxRR
— Aurora Flight Sciences (@AuroraFlightSci) April 2, 2026
Traditionally, aircraft use control surfaces on the wings and the tail’s horizontal and vertical stabilizers, called ailerons, elevators and rudder, respectively. The CRANE program aims to eliminate them, with the Phase 1 of the program involving the testing of a small testbed with AFC systems in a wind tunnel.
The jets of air replacing the control surfaces as part of the new technology are expected to cut weight, improve aerodynamics and reduce mechanical complexity. Phase 2 saw both a Preliminary and then the Critical Design Reviews (CDR) of flight control software and control systems, which DARPA on Jan. 17, 2023 announced was completed, transitioning to subsequent Phases.
AFS had announced a contract award a month prior, on Dec. 12, 2022, saying it covered Phase 2 and the future Phase 3, the latter still optional at the time. DARPA explained AFS was chosen for its “innovations across aircraft configurations, autonomous systems, propulsion technologies, and manufacturing processes.”
Lockheed Martin and Georgia Tech Research Corporation were the participants in Phase 0, described as “a long conceptual design phase to give performers time to evaluate flow control options before solidifying their demonstration approaches.” DARPA has also selected AFS for another X-plane (experimental) project, the Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) program, with a rendering unveiled in October 2024 showing fan-in-wing (FIW) technology.
In mid-January, Aurora completed the X-65 fuselage at our manufacturing facility in West Virginia. Working with @DARPA, we are building X-65 to demonstrate active flow control. Follow us as we progress toward first flight, currently planned for 2027. pic.twitter.com/V10cldS0Bg
— Aurora Flight Sciences (@AuroraFlightSci) February 24, 2026
X-65 fuselage revealed
The image released on Feb. 24, 2026 showed a direct frontal shot of the 7,000 pound demonstrator’s fuselage, with a large ventral air intake and a missing panel on the nose showing a serpentine duct leading to the engine. A clearer image of the fuselage was offered on Apr. 2, with a side-view showing the wings’ roots and a missing panel to allow setting the aircraft on a jig where the main landing gear would be located.
AFS said this fuselage was completed in mid-January at its facility in West Virginia. This completed fuselage was then delivered to another AFS facility in Virginia.
Both images clearly show the fuselage is empty, with the company explaining it will now be integrated with the AFC-specific electrical and propulsion systems, “while wing and tail manufacturing is advancing in West Virginia.” The February image of the fuselage’s front view also showed three holes on the chine line, which may be ports for the three air data probes (pitot tubes) seen across all renderings so far.
The opening exactly on the front nose section, going by a 2024 concept video by AFS, will host a heat exchanger, feeding into the front-mounted Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), whose exhaust is exactly on the spine. Renderings have shown the effector nozzles near the trailing edges of the three-part “diamond-like wings,” as Dr. Richard Wlezien, DARPA’s program manager for CRANE, described them, and the V-tails.
The following screengrab, taken from the video showing how the overall AFC concept is supposed to work, shows where the ‘effector nozzles’ are placed, connected by the valves carrying pressurized air.
Aurora Flight Sciences had dropped a hint of an upcoming image of the completed X-65 fuselage in a release on Nov. 20, 2025. The company announced that the aircraft was taking shape and included an image of the bare skeletal airframe with the bulkheads and missing panels, targeting the completion of the fuselage by January 2026.
This showed quick progress since things had started moving in August 2025, when AFS and DARPA “finalized an agreement to co-invest in the completion and first flight of the X-65.”
Components and aerodynamics
In addition to the fuselage, AFS also named parts like the wing assemblies and engine diffuser among the components manufactured at its facility in West Virginia, being built there. The company also added that the “in-house […] propulsion and AFC system components” are “ready for integration.”
“The X-65 is purpose-designed for testing and demonstrating active flow control with a 30-ft wingspan and 7000 lb. gross weight,” AFS further said. “The AFC system supplies pressurized air to fourteen AFC effectors embedded across all flying surfaces.”
The statement explained that “the triangular wing design enables testing across multiple wing sweeps and is modular with replaceable outboard wings and swappable AFC effectors to allow for future testing of additional AFC designs.” The aircraft is expected to have a speed of Mach 0.7.
“We’re excited to continue our longstanding partnership with DARPA to complete the build of the X-65 aircraft and demonstrate the capabilities of active flow control in flight,” said Larry Wirsing, VP of aircraft development at Aurora Flight Sciences. “The X-65 platform will be an enduring flight test asset, and we’re confident that future aircraft designs and research missions will be able to leverage the underlying technologies and flight test data.”
