Lockheed Corporation
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The Lockheed SR-71 was remarkably advanced for its time and remains unsurpassed in many areas of performance. |
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The Lockheed U-2, which first flew in 1955, provided much needed intelligence on Soviet bloc countries. |
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The Lockheed C-130 Hercules serves as the primary tactical transport aircraft for military forces worldwide. |
Lockheed Corporation (originally Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company) was an
American aerospace company originally founded in
1912 which merged with
Martin Marietta in
1995 to form
Lockheed Martin.
Origins
The
Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company was established in 1912 by the brothers
Allan and
Malcolm Loughead. This company was renamed the
Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company and located in
Santa Barbara, California.
In
1926, following the failure of Loughead, Allan Loughead formed the
Lockheed Aircraft Company (the spelling was changed to match its phonetic pronunciation) in
Hollywood, California. In
1929 Lockheed sold out to
Detroit Aircraft.
The
Great Depression ruined the aircraft market, and Detroit Aircraft went bankrupt. A group of investors headed by brothers Robert and Courtland Gross bought the company out of receivership in
1932. The syndicate bought the company for a mere $40,000. Ironically, Allan Loughead himself had planned to bid for his own company, but had raised "only" $50,000, which he felt was too small a sum for a serious bid.
In
1934,
Robert E. Gross was named chairman of the new company, the
Lockheed Corporation, which was headquartered at the
airport in
Burbank, California. The company remained there for many years before moving to
Calabasas, California.
The first successful construction that was built in any number (141 aircraft) was the
«Vega» been known for its use to several first- and record setting flights by, amongst others
Amelia Earhart,
Wiley Post and
Hubert WilkinsIn the 1930s, Lockheed spent $139,400 to develop the
L-10 Electra, a small twin-engine transport. The company sold 40 in the first year of production.
Amelia Earheart and her navigator,
Fred Noonan, flew this plane on their failed attempt to circumnavigate the world in
1937. The Electra also formed the basis for the
Hudson bomber, which was supplied to both the British
Royal Air Force and the United States military before and during
World War II. Its primary role was submarine hunting.
Production during World War II
At the beginning of
World War II, Lockheed â€" under the guidance of
Clarence (Kelly) Johnson, one of the best known American aircraft designers â€" answered a specification for an interceptor by submitting the
P-38 Lightning fighter plane, a somewhat unorthodox twin-engine,
twin-boom design. The P-38 was the only U.S. fighter design to be built for the entire duration of the war. It filled ground attack, air-to-air, and even strategic bombing roles in all theatres of the war. The P-38 was responsible for shooting down more Japanese aircraft than any other type during the war; it also participated in the famous mission to kill Japanese
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind of the
Pearl Harbor attack. Also under Johnson, Lockheed developed a larger, less-successful version of the P-38.
All told, Lockheed and its subsidiary
Vega produced 19,278 aircraft during World War II, representing 6% of those produced in the war. This included 2,600 Venturas, 2,750 B-17 Flying Fortresses (built under license for Boeing), 2,900 Hudsons, and 9,000 Lightnings.
[TIME, January 14, 1946.]Post-war production
During World War II, Lockheed, in cooperation with
Trans-World Airlines (TWA), had developed the L049
Constellation, a radical new airliner capable of flying 43 passengers between
New York and
London at a speed of 300 mph in 13 hours. Once the Constellation (affectionately called "Connie") went into the production, the military received the first production models. After the war, the airlines received their original orders of Constellations. This gave Lockheed more than a year's head-start on the other aircraft manufacturers.
Lockheed produced a larger transport, the double-decked
R6V Constitution, which was intended to make the Constellation obsolete. However, the design proved underpowered, and only two prototypes were ever built.
Skunk Works
In
1943, Lockheed began, in secrecy, development of a new jet fighter at its Burbank facility. This fighter, the
P-80 Shooting Star, became the first American jet fighter to score a kill. It also recorded the first jet-to-jet aerial kill, downing a
MiG-15 in Korea, although by this time the F-80 (as it came to be known in June 1948) was already considered obsolete.
Starting with the P-80, Lockheed's secret development work was conducted by its Advanced Development Division, more commonly known as the
Skunk Works. This organization has become famous and has spawned many successful Lockheed designs, including the
U-2 (late 1950s),
SR-71 Blackbird (1962) and
F-117 Nighthawk (1970s). The Skunk Works often created high quality designs in a short time and sometimes with limited resources. Today the generic term "skunk works" implies a place for the development of secret projects.
Projects during the Cold War
In
1954, the
C-130 Hercules, a durable four-engined transport, flew for the first time. The type remains in production in 2006.
In 1956, Lockheed received a contract for the development of the
Polaris Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (
SLBM), this would be followed by the Poseidon and Trident nuclear missiles.
In 1976, the Skunk Works began secret development of the
F-117 Stealth Fighter.
Other Lockheed designs included the
F-104 Starfighter (late 1950's), the world's first Mach 2 fighter plane;
L-1011 TriStar wide-body jet transport; and the
C-141 Starlifter and
C-5 Galaxy four-engined jet transports.
Japanese Lockheed Scandal
In 1976, Lockheed was involved in a major scandal involving the Japanese
Marubeni Corporation and several high ranking members of Japanese political, business and
underworld circles. Lockheed had hired underworld figure
Yoshio Kodama as a consultant in order to influence Japanese airlines to purchase the
L-1011 aircraft instead of the competing
Douglas DC-10.
It was revealed that Lockheed had paid approximately $1.8 million in bribes to the office of Japanese Prime Minister
Kakuei Tanaka for aid in the matter. The resulting judicial process carried on for a decade, and led to the arrest of Tanaka (after his resignation due to another scandal), among others. In the United States, Lockheed chairman of the board
Daniel Haughton resigned from his position.
Timeline
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The logo of the Lockheed Corporation, ca. 1930. |
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1912: The
Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company established.
*
1916: Company renamed
Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company.
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1926:
Lockheed Aircraft Company formed.
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1929: Lockheed becomes a division of Detroit Aircraft.
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1932:
Robert and Courtland Gross take control of company after the bankruptcy of Detroit Aircraft. Company renamed
Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, recognizing the company's reorganization under a board of directors.
*
1943: Lockheed's Skunk Works founded in Burbank, California.
*
1954: First flight of the
C-130 Hercules.
*1954: Maiden flight of the
U-2.
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1976: The Japanese
Lockheed Scandal.
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1977: Company renamed
Lockheed Corporation, to reflect non-aviation activities of the company.
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1985: Acquires
Metier Management Systems.
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1986: Acquires Sanders Associates electronics of
Nashua,
New Hampshire.
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1991: Lockheed,
General Dynamics and
Boeing begin development of the
F-22 Raptor.
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1993: Acquires
General Dynamics'
Fort Worth aircraft division, builder of the
F-16 Fighting Falcon.
*
1995: Lockheed Corporation merges with
Martin Marietta to form
Lockheed Martin.
Lockheed's operations were divided between several groups and divisions, many of which continue to operate within Lockheed Martin.
[Francillon, René J, Lockheed Aircraft since 1913. Naval Institute Press: Annapolis, 1987, pp. 47-49.]Aeronautical Systems Group
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Lockheed-California Company,
Burbank, California.
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Lockheed-Georgia Company,
Marietta, Georgia.
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Lockheed Advanced Aeronautics Company,
Saugus, California.
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Lockheed Aircraft Service Company,
Ontario, California.
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Lockheed Air Terminal, Inc., Burbank, California, now
Bob Hope Airport and owned by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.
Missiles, Space, and Electronics Systems Group
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Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc.,
Sunnyvale, California.
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Lockheed Space Operations Company,
Titusville, Florida.
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Lockheed Engineering and Management Services Company, Inc.,
Houston, Texas.
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Lockheed Electronics Company, Inc.,
Plainfield, New Jersey.
Marine Systems Group
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Lockheed Shipbuilding Company,
Seattle, Washington.
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Lockport Marine Company,
Portland, Oregon.
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Advanced Marine Systems,
Santa Clara, California.
Information Systems Group
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Datacom Systems Corporation,
Teaneck, New Jersey.
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CADAM Inc., Burbank, California.
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Lockheed Data Plan, Inc.,
Los Gatos, California.
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DIALOG Information Services, Inc,
Palo Alto, California.
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Metier Management Systems,
London, England.
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Integrated Systems and Solutions,
Gaithersburg, MD.
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Lockheed Trident I missile, introduced in 1979. Followed by Trident II in 1990 |
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Lockheed's advanced upper rocket stage, the Agena. |
A partial listing of aircraft and other vehicles produced by Lockheed.
Airliners and civil transports
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Lockheed Vega*
Lockheed L-10 Electra*
Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior*
Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra*
Lockheed Lodestar*
Lockheed Constellation, famous airliner
*
Lockheed Saturn*
L-188 Electra*
Lockheed JetStar, business jet
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L-1011 TriStar,
wide-body airliner
Military transports
* C-64/C-121, military transport version of the Constellation
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Lockheed R6V Constitution, large transport aircraft
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C-130 Hercules, medium combat transport (
AC-130 gunship) (
other variants)
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C-141 Starlifter, long-range jet transport
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C-5 Galaxy, heavy transport
Fighters
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P-38 Lightning, two-engine fighter
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P-80 Shooting Star, the
United States Air Force's first operational jet fighter
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F-94 Starfire, all-weather fighter
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F-104 Starfighter, multi-mission fighter, the "missile with a man in it"
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F-117 Nighthawk, stealth fighter
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F-22 Raptor, air superiority stealth fighter
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T-33 Shooting StarPatrol and reconnaissance
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Lockheed Hudson, maritime patrol/bomber
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PV-1 Ventura and PV-2 Harpoon, Maritime patrol/bomber
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P2V Neptune, maritime patrol
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P-3 Orion, ASW patrol
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U-2, reconnaissance (TR-1)
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SR-71 Blackbird, reconnaissance (
A-12) (
M-21) (
YF-12)
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S-3 Viking, patrol/attack
Helicopters
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CL-475*
CL-595 (Model 286), Rigid-rotor helicopter
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XH-51A/B, composite thrust helicopter testbed aircraft modified from the CL-595
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AH56A Cheyenne, prototype composite thrust attack helicopter
Missiles
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Polaris*
Poseidon*
TridentSpace technology
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X-7*
X-17*
X-24C*
Corona*
Agena*
Apollo Launch Escape System*
Hubble Space TelescopeSea vessels
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Sea Shadow* Boyne, Walter J.,
Beyond the Horizons: The Lockheed Story. St. Martin's Press: New York, 1998.
*
Vega Aircraft Corporation*
Lockheed Brothers from
PBS*
Lockheed Martin*
The Jetmakers
