Lockheed Martin has finished constructing a new 215,000-square foot advanced manufacturing facility at the headquarters of its aerospace company Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. The new factory combines robotics, artificial intelligence and augmented reality to enable fast and agile manufacturing processes in support of the U.S. and its allies, Lockheed said Tuesday. The facility, which […] More

Lockheed Martin has demonstrated the use of Kubernetes-based processing aboard a U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft as a precursor to achieving real-time software deliveries during flights. The Kubernetes containerization technology test, conducted in November, supports an effort to create a secure software development environment that allows aircraft to accommodate software updates when airborne, Lockheed said Monday.

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Jeff Babione, general manager for Lockheed Martin‘s Skunk Works business, has said the company plans to recruit new employees in response to the increase in defense and aerospace work, Inside Defense reported Tuesday. He said Skunk Works intends to extend job offers in universities and employ 50 to 60 engineers each month as part of […] More

Jeff Babione, executive vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin‘s F-35  program, has been appointed to similar roles within the defense and aerospace contractor’s advanced development programs division known as Skunk Works. Lockheed said Thursday Babione will lead Skunk Works’ efforts to support warfighters and succeed Rob Weiss, who will retire in late 2018. In his current role, Babione oversees […] More

Jeff Babione, executive vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin‘s F-35 program, has said the company is in discussions with the governments of Spain, Belgium and Switzerland regarding the countries’ plans to buy fighter jets, Defense World reported Friday. “We are starting to see other customers think about the F-35 being added to their fleet,” Babione told […] More

Lockheed Martin has said it maintains the capability to produce F-35 fighter jets to fulfill a potential block buy from the program’s international partners in fiscal year 2017, Defense News reported Thursday. Jeff Babione, Lockheed’s F-35 program manager, said the Joint Program Office must finalize its decision within the next six months so that Lockheed will be able to […] More

Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works subsidiary demonstrated communications between six fifth-generation fighter jet and one reconnaissance aircraft during a test with the U.S. Air Force and the Missile Defense Agency. The flight test titled Project Hydra had five F-35s, one U-2 and and one F-22 aircraft link with each other to share data and build real time situational awareness for ground-based operators, the company said Monday.

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Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works advanced development arm is slated to unveil a compact fusion reactor that may be used to power large aircraft or a town of 80K homes, The Drive reported Friday.

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Lockheed Martin has reached the joint government and industry delivery goal of 66 F-35 aircraft units for 2017, an increase of approximately 40 percent from the previous year. The company said Monday it has supplied approximately 265 F-35 aircraft to U.S. and international clients and more than 5,500 pilots and maintenance personnel have been trained […] More

The Lockheed Martin-built F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft fleet has surpassed 100,000 flight hours as the company works to complete the program’s system development and demonstration phase. Lockheed said Monday the remaining F-35 development flight tests include the validation of the final Block 3F software release; F-35B ski jump demonstrations and austere site operations; high-Mach Loads […] More