NS has said it will begin field testing of the next generation W2 family worm drive, which will increase the speed of fitted ships to an equivalent of 7000c. The drive will be fitted into an Alpha drone early next year and conduct a number of unmanned test flights before the engine is man rated. Later in 2125 the engine will be fitted to a larger ship. Full testing is expected to take around two years but ships could start being fitted with W2 family worm drives in 2127.
NS are already working on the third generation, a 10,000ec target has been given for W3 though this will probably nor be achievable until well into the next decade.
