GE Aerospace announced on May 19, 2026, that it has completed a series of preliminary design studies for a hypersonic dual-mode ramjet using custom-generated AI applications, describing it as a proof of concept to compress engine design cycles from months to seconds.
Researchers at the GE Aerospace Research Center in Niskayuna, New York, ran the tool against multiple flight conditions and customer requirements that formed the framework for early ramjet research. According to the company, the application returned hundreds of candidate design layouts in a single session, each meeting the constraints imposed.
GE Aerospace did not release technical details of the candidate layouts or commit to the hardware path for either layout, framing the exercise as a methodology demonstration rather than the start of a new program.
Compress early design loops
This work was led by Joe Vinciquerra, general manager and senior executive director of GE Aerospace Research. He said the tool is aimed at reducing the slowest part of a new engine program: the iterative loop between requirements definition and preliminary executable layout.
“Using generative AI tools, we can significantly reduce design cycle times,” Vinciquerra said in a statement, adding that this approach allows the company to move quickly to testing and commercialization.
The Niskayuna site is the center of GE Aerospace’s hypersonic propulsion operations. In late 2023, the same research team demonstrated a dual-mode ramjet rig test using rotating detonation combustion in supersonic flow.
In September 2025, GE Aerospace flew a Starfighters Aerospace F-104 solid-fuel ramjet over Florida as part of the ATLAS program, funded under Title III of the Defense Production Act. In January 2026, GE Aerospace and Lockheed Martin completed ground testing of a liquid-fueled rotary explosive ramjet intended for missile applications.
The U.S. Department of Defense is increasingly focused on the speed of maturation of new air-breathing propulsion concepts. China and Russia already have operational hypersonic systems, but some U.S. efforts have struggled to move from research to deployment.
Civil implications for RISE
Vinciquerra said the same generative AI tools are being applied to the CFM International RISE program, an open fan technology demonstration supported by GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines. RISE aims to reduce fuel consumption by more than 20% compared to current narrow-body engines and is widely recognized as the propulsion baseline for next-generation single-aisle aircraft. CFM and Airbus are preparing to use the A380 as an open-fan flight demonstrator in the second half of the decade.
