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.
“Sho