GE Aerospace’s Axisymmetric Vectoring Exhaust Nozzle (AVEN) has been given a second life as a key propulsion technology for Shield AI’s X-BAT autonomous VTOL strike fighter. Originally developed in the 1990s, AVEN was designed to make aircraft more agile by redirecting engine thrust in multiple directions. Tested on a modified F-16 under the Multi-Axis Thrust Vectoring program, the technology demonstrated how thrust vectoring could enhance maneuverability beyond what conventional control surfaces could provide.

Although the technology was never adopted for the F-16, its ability to precisely direct thrust is now central to X-BAT’s runway-independent design. Shield AI retrieved the original AVEN hardware, refurbished it, and integrated it with an F110-GE-129E engine, with testing at GE Aerospace’s Peebles facility validating the integrated system. The companies are now adapting the decades-old technology with modern materials, control systems, and manufacturing techniques to support X-BAT’s vertical takeoff, hovering, and landing capabilities.

The effort demonstrates how a technology developed to make the F-16 more agile more than three decades ago could become a critical enabler for a new generation of autonomous combat aircraft.