How do you develop the technology that will transform aerospace and defense?
You start with 59,000 engineers, 60,000 patents, $7.1 billion in annual research and development funding, and 13 technology roadmaps that reflect what our customers will need, well into the future.
Then you add a venture capital division that invests in companies trying bold new concepts in areas such as artificial intelligence and electrified propulsion, and you complement it with research involving more than 80 U.S. universities.
This is our formula for transformative technologies – the products, systems and concepts to help our customers meet their most critical needs, as well as those they have yet to envision.
Advanced materials and manufacturing
Materials make the difference for a broad range of products across our aviation, defense and space portfolios.
- Semiconductors such as gallium nitride improve the power density and range of our radars.
- Superlattice semiconductors are enabling more efficient electro-optical/infrared imagers.
- Ceramic matrix composites such as silicon carbide will allow engines to run hotter, improving efficiency and reducing fuel burn.
- Carbon-carbon composites that form the core of modern aircraft brakes and will be the prime material for aeroshells for high-speed flight vehicles, which will see temperatures in excess of 3000 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Additive manufacturing allows us to optimize designs, reduce lead times and produce parts at their point of use.
Artificial intelligence, machine learning and autonomy
Our teams use artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the design, development and testing of products – and to make them smarter, easier to use and more capable than ever, with enhanced safety.
- Machine learning, paired with physics-based modeling, is accelerating our discovery of novel materials, facilitating the design of hardware including aircraft foils, and enabling us to explore entirely new system architectures.
- Collaborative autonomy uses artificial intelligence to help pilots coordinate uncrewed aircraft in a campaign – much like a quarterback leads an offense on the football field.
- Command-and-control systems use artificial intelligence to fuse large, disparate data sources into cohesive, actionable insight for decision-makers.
- Prognostics and health management are using machine learning and artificial intelligence as the core of new services that predict faults, gauge the remaining useful life of equipment, help operators minimize unplanned downtime and mitigate sustainment cost.
- We apply these technologies to develop new systems that enhance safety and increase the efficiency of operations in aviation.
Electrification
We are advancing technologies for electric and hybrid electric propulsion, as well as electric power technologies for power supplies, sensors, kinetic effects and non-kinetic effects.
- We are increasing the fuel efficiency of flight by mating our revolutionary gas-powered engines with electric motors and batteries – one of many paths we’re pursuing in sustainable aviation.
- We completed the first successful engine run of our hybrid electric propulsion technology demonstrator – a key milestone on the journey toward installation and flight testing.
- We are collaborating across the company on the hybrid electric Scalable Turboelectric Powertrain Technology (STEP-Tech) demonstrator, with a modular and scalable platform that addresses a variety of applications including air mobility vehicles, high-speed eVTOL and blended-wing-body aircraft.
- We’re developing novel ways of delivering power, such as RF power beaming, for defense applications; and making power electronics smaller, lighter and more efficient.
Advanced sensing
We have a deep heritage in developing radio frequency, electro-optical/infrared sensing, communications and electronic warfare systems for space, air, ground, sea and undersea environments.
- Our RF systems use higher-power microelectronics, increased processing power and software-defined apertures to achieve next-generation capabilities for radar, electronic warfare, communications and multifunction radio frequency applications.
- We’re advancing electro-optical/infrared and other systems such as space-based multispectral sensors and electro-optical distributed aperture systems variants.
- We are providing increased capability against advanced threats and countermeasures by enhancing high-bandwidth digital waveform generation, AI-enabled intelligent signal processing and advanced neuromorphic processing.
- Our acoustic systems enable advanced mine-hunting and undersea networking capabilities through high sensitivity, directionality, multiple access and multi-mod active and passive capabilities for sonar, communications and navigation.
- Our missile seekers counter a wide range of advanced threats through advanced processing and algorithms, all while achieving low size, weight, power and cost.
Advanced propulsion
We are developing propulsion systems for a wide range of applications including commercial and military aircraft, as well kinetic and non-kinetic effectors.
- We are pushing beyond our industry-leading GTF engine architecture, incorporating hybrid electric propulsion and developing the use of advanced cycles, steam injection, and sustainable/alternative aviation fuels.
- We’re applying our expertise in advanced weapons to develop air-breathing scramjet systems that travel many times the speed of sound with no moving parts.
- We are working with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to demonstrate a compact and highly efficient rotating detonation engine concept.
- Our GatorWorks prototyping arm, part of Pratt & Whitney, focuses on the rapid and agile development of military engines.
Integrated systems
We apply model-based digital engineering and operations analysis to create systems that are smarter, faster and more effective than previously possible.
- We’re enabling operational concepts such as Joint All Domain Command and Control, or JADC2, through intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, networking, integrated communications, and effectors.
- We’re developing new missiles and missile-defense systems, including hypersonics, that provide militaries with a wider range of options and effects.
- We’re providing new, lower cost-exchange air defense options by integrating directed-energy systems such as high-power microwaves with traditional kinetic systems.
- We’re tying together propulsion, power and thermal management systems for next-generation commercial and military platforms, providing substantial savings in size, weight and power efficiency.
- We're developing software with a secure systems lifecycle and industry-specific risk management frameworks, embedding cybersecurity into our products including satellites, propulsion systems, avionics components and defense platforms.
Innovation channels
RTX Technology Research Center
RTX Technology Research Center serves as our innovation hub – developing new technologies and solving the toughest challenges by facilitating the transfer of discoveries and capabilities across the company.
Learn more
Licensing
Our patents available for licensing range in scope from artificial intelligence and machine learning to additive manufacturing and infrared sensors.
Learn more
RTX Ventures
RTX Ventures is our venture capital division – investing in small, growing companies and the ideas that will transform aerospace and defense.
Learn more
Submit an idea to RTX
The next great idea can come from anyone. That's why we keep an open communication line to everyone who may have that next innovation or solution.
Learn more
