Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works will build four more Vectis aircraft, lifting the development fleet to five including the prototype already in production. The move, disclosed at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, accelerates testing of the stealth drone ahead of first flight targeted for 2027 and underscores the company’s decision to fund early work internally rather than wait for a customer order.
Ron Fehlen, who leads the Skunk Works programme, said the extra airframes are already underway. The larger fleet is intended to validate manufacturing processes and reduce technical risk before flight testing begins, while also allowing the company to explore the aircraft’s collaborative combat role alongside crewed platforms such as the F-35.
Lockheed also displayed a full-scale Vectis model at the conference and plans to release further details later. No unit costs, contract awards or mission-specific roles for the additional aircraft were provided, and the programme remains a company-funded development effort.