Lockheed Martin refines design of stealth unmanned fighter, as India readies its CATS Warrior

Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works has unveiled further details about Vectis, a highly advanced stealth unmanned fighter unveiled last year. The aircraft boasts a deeply recessed air intake behind a downward-sloping v-shaped channel, a significant departure from India's domestically developed CATS Warrior. Vectis is also the first tailless CCA design to come from a US manufacturer, featuring a lambda wing planform, prominent chine lines, and an arrowhead-shaped nose.

Its size is comparable to the Navy's T-45 Goshawk trainer, and the submerged intake reduces frontal drag for improved range and protects against foreign object debris on austere runways. Development of the first prototype is underway, with Lockheed targeting a first flight by the end of the next year and four more prototypes planned using internal funding.

The firm's rapid development, from concept to wind tunnel validation in under two months, is attributed to advanced digital engineering and minimal tooling determinant assembly, which reportedly cuts labor hours by up to 80%. Vectis is designed for both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, potentially launching AIM-120 AMRAAMs and GBU-53/B StormBreaker glide bombs, and features an electro-optical/infrared sensor turret.

India is simultaneously developing its own unmanned combat systems, with the Ghatak stealth drone powered by a modified Kaveri engine and the CATS Warrior, a twin-engine unmanned platform. These efforts signal a growing global race toward self-reliance in advanced unmanned combat capabilities.