We've learned a bit more about Lockheed Martin's Vectis Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) as the company unveiled a full-scale mock-up of the aircraft while announcing that production of the development prototypes is expanding to five airframes.
First teased in 2025, Lockheed Martin's autonomous stealth drone hasn't exactly been soaking up the limelight. Since then, we've had artist's concepts, but not much in the way of facts, to the point where we didn't even know its actual dimensions.
That's changed as the company accelerates development of its Vectis CCA by adding four more prototypes to the fleet. Funded in-house, the program aims to speed up flight testing, refine its modular architecture, and demonstrate the ability to scale up production, with the maiden flight scheduled for the end of 2027.
This puts an interesting spin on things because Lockheed Martin lost out to General Atomics and Anduril Industries in 2024 in the bidding for the US Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) contract. This likely means that the company is positioning itself for future acquisition contracts, US Navy carrier-based drone contracts, or overseas sales.
It also shows a difference in design philosophies. Where the Air Force contract emphasized low-cost per vehicle, Lockheed Martin has gone for stealth and survivability. From the mock-up, we can see that the aircraft has a modified blended wing-body configuration with continuous chine lines extending from the nose to the wing root. This is to allow the Vectis to diminish its radar signal across a number of wavelength bands.
In addition, Vectis further gooses the stealth by removing all vertical control surfaces. Instead of a tail, it uses split elevons and advanced flight-control algorithms for yaw control and stability. The engine carries on this theme with a top-mounted flush dorsal air inlet to shield the engine from ground-based radar and thermal sensors. There's also an S-shaped duct inside to keep the engine compressor turbine from reflecting radar beams.
As for payload, all the weapons are carried in an internal bay in the fuselage underbelly. The modular design means that payloads can be easily swapped out to meet mission requirements.
The mock-up also gives a better idea of the Vectis's specifications. According to the company, it is 34 ft (10 m) long and has a wingspan of 38 ft (12 m). It has a single turbofan engine of undisclosed make that propels it at subsonic speeds. Specifics like air velocity, range, operational ceiling, and takeoff weight are still under wraps, though its performance is supposed to make it compatible for teaming with the 5th-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter plane and 6th-generation aircraft.
Source: Lockheed Martin
