From an F-16 test program to X-BAT AVEN, short for Axisymmetric Vectoring Exhaust Nozzle, was developed to investigate multi-axis thrust vectoring. Thrust vectoring provides another source of control by changing the direction of engine thrust itself. The technology was developed and flight-tested on an F-16 as part of a multi-axis thrust-vectoring research program in the 1990s. Shield AI says the original AVEN hardware was retrieved from storage, refurbished and integrated with the F110-GE-129E engine for the X-BAT development program. The companies describe the effort as the first fully integrated AVEN test campaign since the original program more than three decades ago.