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

As the realm of aerial combat moves towards greater automation, US firm Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works has lifted the veil further on Vectis, a stealthy Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) first unveiled in September last year, revealing new details ahead of the Air, Space & Cyber Conference. The standout feature is its air intake, deeply recessed into the top of the fuselage behind a downward-sloping v-shaped channel, a configuration that is far more elaborate than earlier renderings of the aircraft suggested, this approach is very different from the intake of the domestically still underdevelopment CATS Warrior.Vectis is also notable for being the first tailless CCA design to emerge from a US manufacturer, featuring a lambda wing planform, a prominent set of chine lines and a arrowhead shaped nose. At roughly 34 feet long with a 38-foot wingspan, it's comparable in size to the Navy's T-45 Goshawk trainer.