Lockheed’s Skunk Works plans to build four more of its multirole combat drones

Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works will build four additional Vectis multirole combat drones, expanding its self-funded prototype plan to five aircraft. The larger fleet is intended to accelerate flight testing, autonomy integration and demonstrations for U.S. and allied customers before any programme-of-record decision. Vectis is a low-observable Group 5 design for contested missions such as counter-air, strike, intelligence and electronic warfare alongside crewed fighters. First flight is targeted by the end of 2027, but Lockheed has not announced a customer, production price or firm schedule for operational fielding.