Pratt & Whitney has completed a key design review for its Valox 1500 engine, moving the propulsion program closer to ground testing as the company develops a new generation of engines for autonomous military aircraft. The engine belongs to the broader Valox family, which Pratt & Whitney is designing for semi-autonomous collaborative aircraft, expendable effectors and other emerging defense platforms. Ground tests next Engineers completed a comprehensive digital assessment of the Valox 1500 design before the program advances into ground testing. Designed for scale Unlike conventional military engine programs, the Valox family was built around digital engineering from the outset. Pratt & Whitney secured a contract worth more than $10 million in late 2025 to continue maturing the Valox engine design, providing additional funding as development progresses toward hardware testing.