Lockheed adds four Vectis drone to speed up testing of its new stealth aircraft

Lockheed Martin is expanding its Vectis stealth drone program by developing four additional prototypes alongside the aircraft already in production. The company announced the investment at the Association of the Air and Space Forces conference in National Harbor, Maryland. The new aircraft will help Lockheed accelerate flight testing and validate how Vectis can be manufactured quickly and affordably. The prototype, announced in 2025, is expected to make its maiden flight by the end of 2027. “Development work on those additional aircraft is already underway, and we’ll have more specifics to share soon,” said Ron Fehlen, head of Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works advanced development division. Stealth drone built to team with fighters Lockheed describes Vectis as a large Group 5 stealth drone designed to support several mission types. Depending on customer requirements, the unmanned aircraft could be configured for air-to-air combat, air-to-ground operations, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. Although Fehlen did not name potential customers, he said Vectis is more closely aligned with Collaborative Combat Aircraft programs than the Mass Modular Aircraft initiative. Collaborative Combat Aircraft are intended to operate alongside crewed fighter jets. “There is no reason to say, Well, it’s one customer or another,” he said. Vectis is approximately 34 feet long and has a wingspan of about 38 feet. That makes the tailless aircraft roughly as long as an MQ-9 Reaper, while its wingspan is comparable to that of an F-35 fighter jet. Lockheed is also aiming to offer the aircraft at a cost that can compete within the Collaborative Combat Aircraft market. Fehlen said the company is targeting unit costs “to be [at] the CCA competitive price.” Top-mounted inlet supports austere operations One of Vectis’ notable design features is a submerged air inlet positioned on top of its airframe. According to Fehlen, the placement helps reduce aerodynamic drag while limiting the risk of debris entering the aircraft. That protection could simplify maintenance when the drone operates from austere locations, where runways and surrounding environments may contain material that could damage an engine. The company displayed a full-scale model of Vectis at the conference and released new images showing the first prototype being assembled. Lockheed has not disclosed how much it is investing in the program. Ikea-like assembly cuts labor requirements Skunk Works is using a manufacturing method called minimal tooling determinate assembly to simplify production and reduce costs. Fehlen compared the approach to assembling furniture from Ikea because it allows parts to be joined with less tooling and manual work. “It’s a technique that really enables an increased level of affordability and speed through really reducing the amount of touch labor required and increasing the first pass yield,” he said. “We’ve seen, in many cases, an 80 percent reduction in labor hours to build up the aircraft itself,” he added. Development has also moved rapidly. Fehlen said the team progressed from an initial design to wind-tunnel validation in two months, completed its first digital build in six months, and released the first component for production in eight months.Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Atharva is a full-time content writer with a post-graduate degree in media & amp; entertainment and a graduate degree in electronics & telecommunications. He has written in the sports and technology domains respectively. In his leisure time, Atharva loves learning about digital marketing and watching soccer matches. His main goal behind joining Interesting Engineering is to learn more about how the recent technological advancements are helping human beings on both societal and individual levels in their daily lives.