TPE331 Engine Will Power Swarm Aero’s Large Military Drone

Honeywell Aerospace’s TPE331 turboprop engine will power a multi-mission uncrewed air system (UAS) being developed by Swarm Aero. The first propulsion system has already been supplied to be installed on what Swarm said on June 9 will be a production-ready aircraft. Swarm has not confirmed the size, payload, and range of its UAS, but said that it falls within the Group 5 class defined by the U.S. Department of Defense.

This would generally include designs weighing more than 1,320 pounds, with a payload greater than 1,000 pounds and the ability to operate above 18,000 feet. According to the California-based company, it is contracted under multiple unspecified Pentagon contracts.

The U.S. government is prioritizing investment in developing large drones for high-altitude, long-endurance applications with the ability to carry multi-sensor payloads, including radar, electro-optical cameras, and satellite communications equipment. Strike capability with precision-guided weapons is also on its wishlist.

The TPE331 family of engines, which entered service in the 1960s, covers power output ratings of between 575 and 1,650 shp. Swarm Aero did not say which model Honeywell will supply for its Group 5 UAS.

“When we evaluated our options, we were looking for an engine manufacturer that saw us as more than a customer, and we found exactly that in Honeywell,” said Swarm co-founder and CEO Peter Kalogiannis. “The TPE331 is a proven, cost-effective, high-performance engine with an extraordinary legacy, and we’re proud to build our aircraft around it.”

The TPE331-10 version of the engine powers General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft, which can fly for up to 34 hours. This is in service with the U.S. military and several allies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions.

Honeywell has delivered more than 13,000 engines that have logged upwards of 122 million flight hours on multiple civil and military aircraft. “The defense landscape is shifting toward collaborative, distributed, and autonomous operations, where delivering capability at scale is as critical as innovation itself,” commented Matt Milas, president of Honeywell’s defense and space division.