US sustainable aviation startup company JetZero, founded in 2021, has been awarded a $235-million, four-year, contract by the US Air Force (USAF) to design and build a full-scale blended wing-body (BWB) demonstrator aircraft. This will be the first full-scale modern fully BWB aircraft to be constructed and flown anywhere; all previous modern full BWB demonstrators have been sub-scale uncrewed aircraft – basically, radio-controlled model aircraft.

The contract was placed by the Defence Innovation Unit of the US Department of Defence. The demonstrator is expected to make its first flight in the first quarter of 2027, and its purpose is to validate the performance of the BWB concept.

Traditional aircraft have a clearly defined fuselage and wing, as seen in the world’s current airliner fleets. The other design option, suitable only for military use, is the flying wing, which effectively has no fuselage at all, and is best illustrated today by the USAF’s B-2 bomber. The BWB concept sits between these two “extremes”, resembling a flying wing but with a discernible, although not tubular, “fuselage” section. The US National Aeronautics and Space Agency, which has studied BWB design for some 30 years, describes such an aircraft as mating a wide aerofoil-shaped body with efficient high-lift wings. A BWB design promises to both reduce fuel burn (and so also greenhouse-gas emissions) and increase payload (because of the greater volume provided by the wide body, in comparison to the traditional “tube” fuselage).

“The BWB is the best first step on the path to zero carbon emissions,” affirmed JetZero CEO Tom O’Leary. “It offers 50% lower fuel burn using today’s engines and the airframe efficiency needed to support a transition to zero carbon emissions propulsion in the future. No other proposed aircraft comes close in terms of efficiency.”

In the development of the demonstrator aircraft, JetZero is working closely with US aerospace major Northrop Grumman, the world leader in flying wing designs, and renowned aerospace design and manufacturing innovation company Scaled Composites. The demonstrator will use existing systems and engines, with the selected power plants being Pratt & Whitney GTF high-bypass geared turbofans. Pratt & Whitney’s Gatorworks unit will support JetZero with integrating these engines into the BWB demonstrator.

The USAF is interested in the BWB concept because it could deliver much greater range, endurance and payload for next-generation strategic transport and air-to-air refuelling aircraft. It might also serve in certain strategic reconnaissance roles currently undertaken by the RC-135 family of airliner-type designs.