GE Aerospace, Shield AI and WZL-2 Plan F110 Engine Support in Poland

What the MOU covers

Under the MOU, the three partners will explore setting up MRO capability in Poland for the F110 engine and its Axisymmetric Vectoring Exhaust Nozzle (AVEN), which supports the X-BAT. They will examine the infrastructure, equipment and training needed to build and expand that capability over time. According to the companies, the aim is that sustainment is planned alongside the aircraft from the start.

The document is a memorandum of understanding, so it sets out an intention to explore the work rather than a finished MRO facility or a contract. The press release gives no timeline, financial terms or scope of work.

The MOU builds on a letter of intent that Shield AI, Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa S.A. (PGZ) and WZL-2 signed in September. That earlier document covered a partnership on the design, production and delivery of X-BAT and on sustaining it in Poland. With GE Aerospace now joining Shield AI and WZL-2, the three partners will work toward the in-country MRO capability needed to keep X-BAT mission-ready on NATO's eastern flank.

What the companies said

Amy Gowder, president and CEO of Defense & Systems at GE Aerospace, said: "For more than 30 years, GE Aerospace has supported Poland's armed forces and its aerospace industry." She said the MOU extends that partnership to X-BAT, combining propulsion and sustainment expertise with Shield AI's work on AI-piloted aircraft and Polish industry.

Ryan Tseng, Shield AI's president, co-founder and chief strategy officer, said WZL-2 has already started building F110 engine expertise with GE Aerospace. He described the F110, with its updated thrust-vectoring nozzle, as "one of the most advanced powerplants in the world." According to Tseng, with both companies involved, Polish industry can build and support X-BAT for Poland and for export, as part of Shield AI's supply chain.

Jakub Gazda, CEO of WZL-2, said the signing marks another step in developing the company's capabilities in advanced aerospace technologies. He said combining WZL-2's experience, its partners' technologies and the potential of Polish industry should create opportunities to develop domestic technical expertise, strengthen security and increase Polish industry's participation in international defense supply chains.

The engine and the aircraft

According to GE Aerospace, the F110 engine has more than 11 million flight hours, offers the most thrust in its class and recently marked 40 years of continuous production and improvement. The AVEN for X-BAT provides thrust vectoring for vertical flight and improves maneuverability in horizontal flight.

X-BAT is an AI-piloted, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fighter aircraft. Because it takes off and lands vertically, Shield AI says it can operate from small sites, ships and roads rather than runways. The company argues that runways are among the first targets in a conflict and that Europe has few hardened airfields for the aircraft it is buying. In Shield AI's words, X-BAT removes that dependency, and building and sustaining it in Poland would place that capability within Polish industry.

What it means

The agreement points to a plan in which engine support for X-BAT would be developed in Poland alongside the aircraft, with a Polish state-linked aviation company taking part. WZL-2 is part of the PGZ group and, according to the release, offers maintenance and modernization services for both airframes and engines. Whether the MRO capability is actually established will depend on the results of the exploration the three partners have now agreed to carry out.

The release also notes a separate development: Shield AI and U.S. government investment in X-BAT has reached $400 million, according to a linked article on the company's site.