Pratt & Whitney shared a new video about the XA103 engine, with a computer-generated rendition of what could be an F-47-inspired design.
Pratt & Whitney has shared on Feb. 18, 2026, a new video about the XA103 being developed for the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) program. The program, which sees P&W competing against General Electric, is notably developing the engine which will power the Boeing F-47, the winner of the competition for the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) manned fighter.
Interestingly, the final part of the video is the one attracting most of the attention online, as it shows a computer-generated rendition of what could be an F-47-inspired design. In fact, the aircraft appears to have both some similarities and differences when compared to the official F-47 renderings.
The Design in the Video
The concept in the video shows a twin-engine single seat tailless aircraft, based on a trapezoidal wing planform and canard foreplanes. While the planform was not among the visible aspects of the official renderings, the canards were. This design appears however to be missing the highly noticeable wing dihedral.
All the notional renderings shown the NGAD aircraft as a twin engine fighter, with the inlets on the underside. The official renderings show neither of these aspects, while the aircraft in P&W’s video has two engines with F-22-like 2D thrust vectoring and two air inlets below the canard foreplanes.
The cockpit appears to be in an advanced position, compared to today’s fighters, although the nose appears different from the shovel-like one previously shown. A perhaps curious detail is the serial number, whose final digits are 048, possibly a hint to the F-47’s being the aircraft which would be powered by NGAP.
The video also shows other USAF-related details, such as the boom receptable door and markings for air refueling and the livery inspired by the F-15C’s Compass Ghost Gray camouflage.
The Real F-47?
While some on social media inquired whether Pratt & Whitney accidentally revealed the F-47’s design, it is worth noting a few details. Since the award of the contract to Boeing in 2025, the U.S. Air Force has only released two renderings of the aircraft, and a variant of one was later released by Boeing for the F/A-XX program.
Moreover, these images only showed a small part of the aircraft. U.S. Air Force and industry officials later revealed these have been heavily edited to hide most, if not all, of the jet’s real design features. As we previously reported here at The Aviationist, an Air Force official said these images should be “taken with a large grain of salt,” adding they “aren’t giving anything away in those pictures.”
Notably, Boeing’s artists initially produced images that already deliberately distorted some of the F-47’s features. The service later further altered them to throw off foreign intelligence. This could be the case also with P&W’s video.
Latest Update on XA-103
Pratt & Whitney says it is using a fully digital engineering approach to accelerate development of its Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) engine. A digital model of the XA103 adaptive engine architecture was showcased during a recent demonstration attended by U.S. Air Force officials.
The engine uses “hundreds of digital sensors” to track performance, says the company. During the demo, one of them was randomly deactivated, and the digital design is said to have allowed to pinpoint the sensors in a matter of minutes, instead of hours.
“A lot of excitement grew from the capability of this,” said Alan Seipt, Pratt & Whitney’s validation chief for adaptive programs, “that it’s not just residing in somebody’s head or a bunch of dusty binders that you have to page through to figure out where the connections are. It’s a digital tool and with a couple buttons, you can understand where you’re at and make real decisions.”
Pratt & Whitney says that the XA103 is the first engine it has developed entirely within a digital collaborative environment, linking design, testing, manufacturing and supply-chain partners through a shared data architecture. Engineers and suppliers work from the same 3D model-based definitions, which would potentially reduce errors, shortening production lead times and enabling earlier validation.
Company officials argue that these tools also allow the Air Force to engage more closely throughout development. As similar case, the company mentions the cooperative model used during the F119 engine program for the F-22 in the 1990s, allowing continuous feedback.
Pratt & Whitney’s XA103 engine
Pratt & Whitney, which is now part of RTX, announced on Feb. 20, 2025, the completion of the Detailed Design Review (DDR) of the XA103 engine, its pitch for NGAP. Interestingly, the company noted that it presented its work “directly from its collaborative digital environment, providing reviewers with immediate access to all the data and material to satisfy the stringent criteria.”
Jill Albertelli, president of Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, said the approach has already doubled the pace at which technical data packages are being delivered, highlighting the growing role of model-based design and digital collaboration in accelerating development timelines.
NGAP seeks to field an adaptive-cycle engine capable of shifting in flight between high-performance and high-efficiency modes by varying bypass ratio. The winning design is expected to eventually power the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation fighter, the Boeing F-47.
However, with NGAP not expected to be finalized until around 2030, early production aircraft may rely on an interim propulsion solution. P&W is procuring hardware for the construction of the XA103 prototype ground demonstrator, although the testing is expected in the late 2020s.
The technologies and architectures of the NGAP program are being informed by the U.S. Air Force previous investment in the Adaptive Engine Transition Program, whose learnings are considered invaluable as some of the technologies could be “portable” between the two programs. In the end, the goal of the NGAP engine is to surpass the capabilities of fourth- and fifth-generation engines, says the company.
The company has invested approximately $30 million in its model-based digital environment in 2025 and expects more than 1,000 engineers and support staff, along with over 100 suppliers, to contribute to the program. The next major milestone will be an Assembly Readiness Review, intended to finalize schedules for prototype assembly and testing.
