矢量喷嘴为一种飞机使用的推进技术，早期大都用于垂直起降战机上，至1980年代末期后，开始在普通战机上广泛应用。

飞行物体的推力是一种有强弱与方向的动量，而此种含强度与方向的动量即称为矢量（TV，Thrust Vector）。旧型飞行器（飞机、导弹）的推力因受限于传统推进器喷嘴的限制，使喷射气流只能与飞行器中轴呈平行，并靠反作用力使飞行器往正前方移动而无法变换方向。现代航空科技积极发展的矢量推力技术即是利用控制推进器喷嘴偏转，而达到改变喷射气流方向并进而使矢量改变，此种可调整矢量的技术就称为矢量推力控制（TVC，Thrust Vector Control），此种推进方式通称为矢量喷嘴，目前设计中或已问世的第五代战机多均已采此种新技术。

Operational use of vectoring nozzles on aircraft began when the British Aerospace Harrier VTOL aircraft entered service with the Royal Air Force in 1968. In this aircraft, the conventional, rearwards jet exhaust was re-configured so that the bypass air and turbine exhaust from the Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine were expelled from two front (air) and two rear (exhaust) swivelling nozzles mounted on the sides of the fuselage. By altering the angle of these nozzles, the ratio of horizontal thrust to lift thrust could be varied, such that with the nozzles directed towards the ground, the aircraft could hover, stationary to the ground, and also move backwards.