Lockheed Buys Wind Tunnel in Texas; Mike McWithey Comments

Lockheed Martin plans to upgrade a wind tunnel in Grand Prairie, Texas it has acquired from Triumph Aerostructures.

The company previously leased the facility and has performed subsonic, transonic and supersonic research and development tests there, the company said Wednesday.

“The high speed wind tunnel in Grand Prairie is an aerospace engineering treasure, serving as a proving ground for hundreds of flight vehicles designed over the last six decades for everything from space exploration to national defense,” Mike McWithey, HSWT manager at Lockheed.

Lockheed plans to install a new air-compressor system in the wind tunnel and update the facility’s data-acquisition system and utilities.

The company will provide testing services to other companies and government agencies at the facility.