Lockheed Martin aims to fly a stealthy, autonomous, multipurpose drone by 2027, the company announced Sunday.
Dubbed Vectis, the “category five” drone is intended for surveillance, air-to-air combat and airstrike missions, said OJ Sanchez, vice president and general manager of Lockheed’s secretive Skunk Works research arm.
“We’re in progress now on the Vectis prototype,” Sanchez told reporters ahead of the Air & Space Force Association’s defense conference near Washington, D.C. “Parts are ordered, the team is in work, and we intend to fly in the next two years.”
Sanchez said that Vectis is not being designed to win any specific contract, but suggested that it might compete against General Atomics and Anduril in the Air Force’s collaborative combat aircraft, or CCA, program.
“Should the U.S. Air Force find that they need a highly survivable platform with the flexibility that Vectis enables for increment two, I think it’ll be a great candidate,” Sanchez said. “We respect their process as they go through and see what’s needed.”
Sanchez said Vectis will be smaller than an F-16 and larger than its Common Multi-Mission Truck missile, a proposed family of vehicles, at least one of which appears to be about eight feet long. He did not disclose what type of engine would be in the drone nor its anticipated price tag.
He said Vectis would connect with fifth-generation and next-generation aircraft: Lockheed’s F-22 and F-35, but also other aircraft.
“This isn’t about connecting Lockheed Martin systems with Lockheed Martin systems,” Sanchez said. “We can connect the Vectis system with any other platform or anybody or anything in the battle space.”
Sanchez said the Vectis drone will require a runway for operations, but is being designed to work well in the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment scheme of quick and lean bases. He said maintenance will be simplified by “simplicity of design” and “durable, reliable materials.”
The drone’s range is “compatible with Indo-Pacific, European and Central Command theaters,” a Lockheed press release said.
The Air Force asked for $111 million for the CCA program in its 2026 budget documents; the reconciliation bill adds $678 million over five years.
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