Lockheed Martin Builds Stealth Drones Despite Air Force Not Selecting Them
In June 2026, the U.S. Air Force awarded contracts for new Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) to two private companies—Anduril Industries and General Atomics—not including publicly traded defense firms like Lockheed Martin. While this was a setback for Lockheed, it is still positioning itself in the CCA software development space by being listed among potential vendors alongside other major players such as Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Technologies. Despite not winning any hardware contracts, Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works division announced plans to build five of its own stealth drones called Vectis. The company is funding this initiative independently in the hope that future Air Force competitions will include their design. This move echoes a similar strategy by Textron with its Scorpion jet, which ultimately failed commercially. Lockheed claims theVectis drone is affordable and compatible with other autonomy software systems, aiming to appeal for mass adoption later on.
Topics: Anduril Industries Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) General Atomics Lockheed Martin U.S. Air Force