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Air Combat News 17 June 2025 - 22 September 2025

Stealth Revolution: Lockheed’s New Vectis Drone Poised to Redefine Air Combat

Stealth Revolution: Lockheed’s New Vectis Drone Poised to Redefine Air Combat

Lockheed’s “Vectis” – A New Era for Stealth Drones Lockheed Martin’s famed Skunk Works – known for iconic secret projects like the U-2 and F-117 – has lifted the veil on a new stealth drone that could revolutionize future air warfare. Dubbed “Vectis” (Latin for “lever,” reflecting the leverage it gives commanders twz.com), the jet-black unmanned aircraft was unveiled ahead of the Air & Space Forces Association conference in September 2025. Skunk Works officials describe Vectis as a “survivable, lethal, and reusable” autonomous drone that embodies decades of Lockheed’s expertise in stealth technology, advanced fighters, and uncrewed systems theaviationist.com theaviationist.com.
22 September 2025
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Future Combat Air Systems: The Global Race for Sixth-Generation Fighters

Future Combat Air Systems: The Global Race for Sixth-Generation Fighters

FCAS/SCAF aims to field a “system of systems” including a Next-Generation Fighter (NGF) with remote carrier drones and a combat cloud, targeting 2040 in-service and costs exceeding €100 billion. The United States’ NGAD is a “family of systems” with a manned core fighter plus loyal wingman drones, potentially costing around $300 million per fighter and planned to enter service around 2030–2032. The UK–Italy–Japan Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) was announced in December 2022 and aims for a 2035 operational fighter, with a crewed demonstrator by 2027–2028, a tri-national engine program, and data-link networks delivering 10,000x radar data throughput. Japan’s F-X
9 July 2025
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Unveiling the F-16 Fighting Falcon: The Legendary Jet’s History, Secrets, and Showdown with Modern Fighters

Unveiling the F-16 Fighting Falcon: The Legendary Jet’s History, Secrets, and Showdown with Modern Fighters

The F-16 began as General Dynamics’ YF-16 in the USAF’s Lightweight Fighter program, with the prototype’s maiden flight in 1974 and the first operational F-16A delivered in 1979. It introduced relaxed static stability and fly-by-wire controls, enabling exceptional agility and the ability to sustain 9 g turns. The cockpit features a frameless bubble canopy for 360-degree visibility and a 30-degree-reclined ejection seat to improve high-G tolerance. More than 4,600 F-16s have been built since 1976, and as of 2025 about 2,084 remain operational across 25 nations. An international NATO consortium—Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway—co-produced early F-16s, assembling 348 jets
17 June 2025
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