United States
The Lockheed Martin Corporation has worldwide interests even though it is an American company. It is involved in defense, aerospace, security, and even advanced technologies. Thanks to the large number of employees that the company has, as well as the extensive work that it performs, it is one of the largest companies in these industries and it is the world’s biggest defense contractor.
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This company was formed in 1995, thanks to the merger of Martin Marietta and Lockheed Corporation. In 1996, Loral Federal Systems joined the merger, as well. These merger talks began in 1994, but took a while to realize. Thanks to billions of dollars in the form of subsidies, they were able to complete the merger successfully. Execs also received large government bonuses due to the merger.
Both of the companies who merged brought multiple products to the company’s portfolio. The acquisition of defense electronics and system integration from Loral Corporation helped the company gain a stronger footing in the industry.
While Lockheed Martin was poised for a merger with Northrop Grumman, valued at $8.3 billion, government concerns caused them to abandon the plan.
Throughout the 2010s, Lockheed Martin was involved in multiple acquisitions, strengthening their power and position in their industry. They acquired Beontra AG in 2014, providing them with forecasting tools and planning tools. In 2015 they announced their plans to buy Sikorsky Aircraft, settling on a final cost of $9 billion.
Lockheed Martin signed business deals with Saudia Arabia in 2017, while in 2018 they were awarded a contract with NASA. This made it possible for them to begin providing technology and science payloads to the moon.
Finally, on April 11, 2019, they launched an Arabsat-6A satellite. This is one of the most advanced communications satellites that Lockheed Martin has ever built.
In 2008, this company received more money in government contracts than any other company in history, totaling $36 billion. They work for more than 24 agencies and are involved in information processing and surveillance for multiple agencies.
2013 saw a lot of revenue coming from military sales. In fact, Lockheed Martin earned 78% of their income in this way. They received almost 10% of all funds that were paid out by the Pentagon during this time.
One major problem that plagued Lockheed Martin was when they provided NASA with incorrect software measurements. The use of US units instead of metric measurements resulted in the Orbiter being lost at a final cost of $125 million. The spacecraft development had cost $193.1 million.
One of the most troublesome planes that Lockheed Martin has produced is the F-35. This plane was grounded in 2018 for an inspection to determine why the fighter jets were having difficulties. A September 28, 2018 crash involving the aircraft resulted in the plane being grounded so that tests could be performed to determine the problems.
The Lockheed Constellation also has been involved in a number of accidents, which is to be expected when there are multiple aircrafts in use for extended periods of time. This aircraft suffered from multiple accidents without fatalities, but some had many fatalities, including an accident on March 16, 1970 where 23 of the 28 people on board were killed.
North Bethesda, Maryland is an area near Washington, DC, and is where Lockheed Martin is headquartered.
In 2010, Lockheed Martin closed their Eagan, Minnesota plant. They still have facilities nationwide, in Manassas, VA, San Diego, CA, and Owego, NY, as well as other locations throughout the world.
Lockheed Martin is involved in the production of a wide range of products. They not only produce aircraft, but flight operations for defense, gyrocam systems, high speed wind tunnels, information systems, and more.
As of December 2017, this company employed approximately 100,00 people around the world.
The current CEO of Lockeheed Martin is Marillyn Hewson. She was named the Forbes 20th most powerful woman in the world in 2015. She became the CEO of Lockheed Martin in 2013 and, since then, their market cap has doubled.
In 2018, Lockheed Martin posted a revenue of $53.76 billion, with a total asset amount of $44.87 billion. It cost them $7.33 billion in operating expenses in that year.