词条 | Lockheed Martin Corporation |
释义 | Lockheed Martin Corporation American corporation Introduction major American diversified company with core business concentrations in aerospace products—including aircraft, space launchers, satellites, and defense systems—and other advanced-technology systems and services. About half of the company's annual sales are to the U.S. Department of Defense. Lockheed Martin is also a leading contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It was formed in 1995 through the merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta Corporation, the second and third largest American defense contractors at the time. In 1996 the new company grew further with the acquisition of Loral Corporation's defense electronics and systems (itself comprising nine separate aerospace and defense units of major American corporations such as IBM, Xerox, and Ford). Headquarters are in Bethesda, Maryland. Lockheed Martin manufactures, among other aircraft, the F-16 Fighting Falcon multirole fighter, the C-130 Hercules military transport, and the P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft. Additional projects include, in partnership with Boeing Company, the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter and, in competition with Boeing, the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The company also conducts upgrades, modifications, and refurbishing of its older aircraft. In the space sector, Lockheed Martin builds the Titan (Titan rocket) IV, the largest American expendable launch vehicle; the commercial Atlas (Atlas rocket) families of expendable launchers; the Centaur upper-stage rocket; the Trident (Trident missile) II submarine-launched ballistic missile; and smaller tactical missile systems for aircraft and ground-based platforms. It also makes military satellites (e.g., for the Milstar communications satellite system) and numerous scientific, weather, and telecommunications satellites. Lockheed Martin supplies the external propellant tank for the U.S. space shuttle, and, in a joint venture with Boeing called United Space Alliance, it conducts day-to-day operation and management of the shuttle fleet for NASA. As part of International Launch Services, a joint venture formed in 1995 with the Russian firms Energia and Khrunichev, it markets commercial Atlas and Proton launch services worldwide. The company also produces fire-control systems, radars, and other elements of the U.S. Navy's Aegis Combat System, which automatically tracks hostile targets and directs missile defense. It is managing contractor of the Oak Ridge (Tennessee) National Laboratory and the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico and California. In 2000 Lockheed Martin had a workforce of about 150,000 employees worldwide. Lockheed Corporation ![]() In 1926 Allan Loughead returned to aviation and established the Lockheed Aircraft Company (the spelling of Loughead was changed to match its pronunciation) with brick and tile manufacturer Fred E. Keeler as president and majority stockholder. The next year, with John K. Northrop (Northrop, John Knudsen) as chief engineer, Lockheed developed the trend-setting Vega, a four-passenger, wooden monoplane. This highly successful aircraft achieved several records including completion of the first successful solo flight around the world (by Wiley Post (Post, Wiley) in 1933). the first solo flight around the world, by Wiley Post (Post, Wiley) in 1933.In 1929 Keeler sold the company to Detroit Aircraft Corporation, which made it a division. While Lockheed itself remained profitable during the Great Depression, the rising losses of its parent company drained its own profits, and in 1932 Detroit Aircraft was liquidated. Within a short time, four investors led by the banker Robert Ellsworth Gross acquired Lockheed's assets for $40,000 and revived Lockheed Aircraft Company. In 1934 the company delivered its first Electra, a twin-engine, all-metal airliner whose sales brought the business to profitability. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() In the civilian sector following World War II, Lockheed introduced several propeller-driven airliners, including the famous triple-tailed Constellation (entered commercial service in 1946) and Super Constellation (entered commercial service in 1951), and the first business jet, the four-engine JetStar (first flown as a twin-engine craft in 1957). Although it missed entering the commercial jetliner field in the formative years, the advent of wide-bodied airliners in the 1960s provided the company with a new opportunity to penetrate the market. Its L-1011 TriStar began development in 1966 and made its first flight in 1970. To power the TriStar, Lockheed selected the British engine maker Rolls-Royce (Rolls-Royce PLC)'s new RB211 turbofan. In 1971, however, several poor business decisions related to the RB211 forced Rolls-Royce into bankruptcy. Lockheed considered it too costly to modify the TriStar for a different engine, and it, too, was on the verge of bankruptcy because of delays with the L-1011, cost overruns on its C-5 program, and reduced military contracts in the waning years of the Vietnam War. The L-1011 and its manufacturer were saved only through coordinated efforts of the U.S. government (with a massive loan guarantee), the British government (by nationalizing Rolls-Royce), other consolidated lenders, and committed customers. ![]() ![]() In the early 1990s Lockheed expanded its lines of military aircraft with the acquisition of the Fort Worth (Texas) Division of General Dynamics (General Dynamics Corp.), whose major product was the F-16 fighter. The roots of that division reach back to the formation of Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in 1923 by the American military pilot and aircraft maker Reuben Hollis Fleet. Consolidated Aircraft started out by building training aircraft. During World War II it was one of the leading airplane manufacturers in the United States; its production included the B-24 Liberator bomber and PB4Y flying boat. In 1943 Consolidated merged with Vultee Aircraft Inc. (founded 1939) to form Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, which in the postwar period produced both the largest piston-engine-powered American bomber, the B-36 Peacekeeper (which in later versions incorporated four auxiliary turbojets in addition to its six radial piston engines), and the fastest jet bomber of the time, the delta-wing B-58 Hustler. In 1953 General Dynamics acquired a stock majority in Consolidated Vultee and established it as its Convair division. Eight years later the name Convair was dropped, and most aircraft-manufacturing activity was concentrated at the former Consolidated Fort Worth plant. This division developed the twin-engine F-111 fighter-bomber (deployed in 1967), the world's first production variable-wing aircraft, and the compact, lightweight F-16 (deployed in 1979), which featured fly-by-wire (electronic rather than mechanical) flight controls. Generous contracts with several NATO countries to coproduce the F-16 contributed to the international success of the aircraft. In 1991 the U.S. Air Force chose a design offered by a consortium comprising Lockheed, Boeing (Boeing Company), and General Dynamics for a twin-engine advanced tactical fighter with stealth features. The aircraft was named the F-22 Raptor and first flew in 1997. Martin Marietta Corporation ![]() ![]() ![]() |
随便看 |
|
百科全书收录100133条中英文百科知识,基本涵盖了大多数领域的百科知识,是一部内容开放、自由的电子版百科全书。