{"id":71184,"date":"2025-11-20T17:59:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T17:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/11\/20\/two-year-flight-delay-for-darpa-x-plane-that-steers-with-air-bursts\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:25:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:25:45","slug":"two-year-flight-delay-for-darpa-x-plane-that-steers-with-air-bursts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2025\/11\/20\/two-year-flight-delay-for-darpa-x-plane-that-steers-with-air-bursts\/","title":{"rendered":"Two-year flight delay for DARPA X-plane that steers with air bursts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An experimental DARPA plane<\/a> that would steer using bursts of air is expected to have its first flight in late 2027, more than two years later than originally planned, after the program was paused and restructured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unmanned X-65, being built by Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences as part of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program, is designed to test a concept called \u201cactive flow control\u201d to steer an aircraft. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This plane will not have mechanical flaps and rudders in its wings or tail to control its pitch, roll and yaw, as a conventional aircraft does. Instead, it is meant to use small air bursts to create a speed bump that alters how the air flows over the plane\u2019s wings, which causes it to shift. The air bursts themselves do not push the wings, as do a spacecraft\u2019s thrusters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DARPA hopes the technology demonstrated with this program, called Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors, or CRANE, will allow aircraft designers to rethink how they build planes and design maneuvering systems. This system is intended to be more energy efficient, improve aerodynamics, and reduce the weight and mechanical complexity of aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DARPA announced in January 2023 that it had awarded a $42 million contract to Aurora Flight Sciences to start detailed design of an aircraft using active flow control technology. Aurora is a Boeing subsidiary, located in Manassas, Virgina, that specializes in developing advanced innovative designs for aircraft and uncrewed systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program passed a critical design review in late 2023 and moved on to its third phase, in which Aurora received another contract to start building a full-scale experimental prototype to test the technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2024, Aurora and DARPA announced that fabrication on the demonstrator was already under way at Aurora\u2019s facilities in West Virginia and Mississippi, and was expected to start flight tests in summer of this year. It would have a 30-foot wingspan, weigh 7,000 pounds, and could fly at speeds up to Mach 0.7, or more than 500 miles per hour, they said. DARPA said the plane was expected to be rolled out of the factory for testing early this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Aurora expects to finish building the fuselage for the X-65 aircraft in January 2026. More integration work will follow, and Aurora expects to start ground testing on the aircraft in late 2026 or early 2027. (Aurora Flight Sciences)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The program hit troubles, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The costs to produce the prototype aircraft for test flights ended up being higher than expected, a DARPA spokesperson told Defense News, so earlier this year, DARPA chose to \u201cstrategically pause\u201d the X-65\u2019s development and reevaluate the program, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDARPA programs are high-risk by nature,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cAs with this program, Aurora had to address technical and supply chain challenges, resulting in added development time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During that pause, DARPA said, it restructured the program into a partnership with Aurora, in which the company became a \u201cco-investor\u201d in the X-65. That new arrangement was finalized in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAurora\u2019s investment in the X-65, through this program\u2019s restructuring, ensures DARPA\u2019s CRANE objectives are met,\u201d Christopher Kent, DARPA\u2019s CRANE program manager, said in a statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDemonstrating active flow control in flight opens new design and production possibilities for both military and commercial aircraft,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new partnership structure \u201cgets costs back to an affordable rate for the government,\u201d the spokesperson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter we\u2019ve proven the DARPA-hard technical challenge of successfully demonstrating [active flow control technology] for stability and control in-flight via the X-65, Aurora will take over the platform for future test and development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the program is now more than two years behind schedule for reaching its first flight. In a release posted online Thursday morning, Aurora said construction of the plane\u2019s fuselage is on track to be finished in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora spokesperson Carmen Smith told Defense News more integration work will need to be done on the X-65 after the fuselage is built, and ground testing is expected to start late next year or in early 2027, with flight tests following in late 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith confirmed technical and supply chain challenges were a factor in the program delays, as well as the inherent riskiness involved in working on a DARPA project. Smith also said negotiations with DARPA on the co-investment strategy delayed work on the X-65.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora would not say how much it will spend on the X-65, but Smith said the company and DARPA are investing sufficiently to finish building the prototype, conduct integrated ground testing, and conduct the first flight test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fiscal 2026 Defense Department budget documents show DARPA spent $38.3 million on CRANE in fiscal 2024, and another $23.9 million in fiscal 2025, with another $4 million in spending for 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Thursday\u2019s release, Aurora said the X-65, which it is building in Bridgeport, West Virginia, will have 14 \u201ceffectors\u201d across its flying surfaces to produce the needed air bursts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re 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,\u201d Larry Wirsing, Aurora\u2019s vice president of aircraft development, said in the release. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe X-65 platform will be an enduring flight test asset, and we\u2019re confident that future aircraft designs and research missions will be able to leverage the underlying technologies and flight test data.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The X-65 plane Aurora Flight Sciences is building for DARPA would use experimental air burst technology to steer, instead of traditional flaps or 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