Skunk Works-the authors of many advanced American military developments-are switching to new technologies. Yesterday, August 15, the portal thedrive.com He reported that the Lockheed Martin Corporation has opened a new plant for its secret division.
The plant was named Building 648 and is located on the territory of the secret US Air Force aircraft Plant Plant 42. In a hangar with an area of about 20,000 sq. m. m will develop and assemble "modern aerospace vehicles, including stealth fighters and drones, hypersonic missiles, and not only."
Timelapse of the construction of a new Skunk Works plant
The key highlight of the new plant at Lockheed Martin is called high-tech robots Combined Operation: Bolting and Robotic AutoDrill systems, or COBRA. With their help, the company intends to significantly speed up and simplify the assembly of new prototypes. One of these robots is actively involved in the construction of the X-59-a technology demonstrator within the framework of a NASA project called Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST).
COBRA robot at work on the X-59 wing
Image source: thedrive.com
At the same time, Skunk Works points out that the new works are "only part of the structural transition to the digital era, which is reflected in the technologies used at the new plant." In general, over the next five years, Lockheed Martin plans to spend about $2 billion to support its "digital transformation".
Skunk Works is a division of Lockheed Martin, and about 85% of all its works are classified. Among their most famous developments are the U-2, SR-71, F-117, F-22 and, of course, the F-35. In 1994, Benjamin Rich, the second head of Skunk Works, published a book called Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed, in which he told the history of the development of the F-117, as well as some nuances of the work of the unit. In the Russian version, the book is known as "Skunk Works: a personal memoir of my work at Lockheed" and is available for free download on a number of sites.