Vectis vs FQ-42A vs FQ-44A: What the Air Force Is Buying

The Short Answer

The Air Force is buying the General Atomics FQ-42A and the Anduril FQ-44A, while Lockheed Martin Vectis holds no government contract or customer commitment. On June 17, 2026, the service awarded engineering and manufacturing development plus production contracts to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Anduril Industries. The contracts cover at least 150 Collaborative Combat Aircraft combined by the end of the decade. Vectis was not selected for that Increment 1 build.

Lockheed Martin is funding Vectis out of its own Skunk Works division. Lockheed Martin markets the aircraft to domestic and international militaries and plans five prototypes. It has announced no customer or contract for Vectis.

All three aircraft remain unproven in operational squadron service. The sources do not report either FQ aircraft in squadron service. The FQ-42A paused flight tests after an April 2026 mishap, and the first Ohio-built FQ-44A came off the line on July 27, 2026. Vectis has not yet left the ground.

Where Each Combat Aircraft Stands Today

General Atomics flew its prototype YFQ-42A on August 27, 2025, from a California test site, making it the first airframe in the program to get airborne. The aircraft, which has been reported under the name Dark Merlin, faced a flight-testing pause after a post-takeoff mishap at a company-owned California airfield on April 7, 2026. No injuries were reported, General Atomics said its procedures and safeguards worked as intended, and the Air Force awarded the FQ-42A a production contract on June 17, 2026.

Anduril Industries flew its YFQ-44A on October 31, 2025. Two prototype airframes are confirmed by tail number, 25-1001 and 25-1003. A YFQ-44A carried an AIM-120 AMRAAM on external stores in February 2026, and production had started at the Arsenal-1 plant in Pickaway County, Ohio, as of March 23, 2026. The first Ohio-assembled FQ-44A Fury rolled off the manufacturing line on July 27, 2026.

Lockheed Martin announced Vectis on September 21, 2025, pitching a Group 5 autonomous jet built to fly alongside crewed fighters like the F-35. By September 2026, Lockheed Martin had expanded its build plan to five prototypes and displayed a full-scale model at the Air & Space Forces Association conference. Yet Lockheed Martin Vectis remains an internal development effort with its first flight targeted for the end of 2027.

Comparing Vectis, FQ-42A, and FQ-44A Side by Side

The table sets the three aircraft side by side using only facts in the cited sources; anything they do not publish reads Not published.

What the Published Specifications Show and Hide

The sources publish an engine only for Vectis. Defense News reports that Vectis uses a Williams International FJ44-4 commercial turbofan with over 3,600 pounds of thrust. Neither FQ aircraft has a published engine. Lockheed Martin's announcement lists precision strike, ISR targeting, electronic warfare, offensive and defensive counter-air and multi-domain connectivity as Vectis capabilities. It also says Vectis is compatible with the F-35 and uses MDCX common control systems.

Beyond the Vectis engine, the sources for this page publish no dimensions, weight, speed, payload or endurance for any of the three aircraft. The table therefore cannot show which missions each can carry. For price context across programs, see military drone cost.

Lockheed Martin states Vectis has extended range suited to Indo-Pacific, European, and Central Command operations, but gives no numerical distance. For Lockheed Martin's own Vectis statements, see the Lockheed Martin Vectis announcement.

Collaborative Combat Aircraft Increment 1 Boundaries

Air & Space Forces Magazine reports an Increment 1 performance requirement of a combat radius of at least 700 nautical miles. It also reports a cost target of less than $30 million per tail, described as roughly one-third the cost of an F-35. The mission focus for this opening tranche was dedicated specifically to air-to-air engagements.

In April 2024, the Air Force selected Anduril and General Atomics for Increment 1 design work, passing over proposals submitted by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. The same two companies won the June 2026 production awards. The resulting procurement provides a baseline fleet of at least 150 aircraft, split between the FQ-42A and FQ-44A in proportions the sources do not state.

Increment 2 is a later increment of collaborative combat aircraft acquisition. Nine unnamed vendors were reported to be in concept refinement for it, and its status is unclear. The sources do not say whether Lockheed Martin is among them.

Mission Autonomy Software as a Separate Contest

Winning the airframe contract does not grant exclusive control over the software flying it. The Air Force awarded mission autonomy separately from the airframes. While General Atomics and Anduril secured the initial physical airframe builds, mission-autonomy production options were awarded across Anduril, Shield AI, and Collins Aerospace under six-month contract line items.

In March 2026, Anduril flew the YFQ-44A under both Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy and its own Lattice software. The reported tests covered autonomous taxi, takeoff, waypoint patrol, return-to-base and landing.

Lockheed Martin is in this software layer despite missing the Increment 1 airframe selection. Lockheed Martin holds one of six positions in the Air Force's Increment 1 mission-autonomy vendor pool alongside General Atomics, Northrop Grumman, Anduril, Shield AI, and Collins Aerospace. The reported plan is a potential down-select to two vendors and then one by summer 2027.

Verdict and What Would Change It

For military planners and defense analysts, the Air Force's Increment 1 choice is the FQ-42A and FQ-44A. Vectis was not selected. The contracts cover at least 150 aircraft combined by the end of the decade.

Buyers and observers should treat Vectis as a prototype effort. It is not an active service asset. Air forces that need an aircraft before Vectis flies, targeted for the end of 2027, should not plan on Vectis: it has no customer, no contract and no unit price. The FQ-42A and FQ-44A flight test programs are the better indicators of operational capability.

Two specific events would alter this competitive verdict. First, a Vectis production contract from an international partner or under Increment 2 would make Vectis a funded rival. Second, a published unit price, or a published split of the 150 aircraft between the FQ-42A and FQ-44A, would let readers compare the two Increment 1 aircraft directly. Until those shifts happen, verify program status on the Air & Space Forces Magazine contract report.