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Lockheed Martin
Despite being better positioned for a downturn in military demand than any of its defense-industry competitors, number-one rated Pentagon contractor Lockheed Martin is pursuing a wide range of commercial opportunities. Having increased dividends at a 22% annual rate over the past ten years, company
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Date:
4/18/2013
Leading defense contractor Lockheed Martin announced on March 18 that Larry Lawson, the head of its aeronautics unit, would be replaced by F-35 general manager Orlando Carvalho. Carvalho in turn will be replaced at the top of the tri-service F-35 program by Lorraine Martin, a 25-year company veteran
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Date:
3/19/2013
Of all the big contractors in the U.S. defense industry, Lockheed Martin seemingly has the least need to diversify into commercial businesses. It is the Pentagon's dominant supplier of tactical aircraft, space systems, missile defenses, naval electronics and information services. Having leveraged
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Date:
3/17/2013
The nation's biggest military contractor today reported fourth-quarter and full-year results for 2012 indicating that Pentagon budget cuts have not yet begun to have a major impact on revenues and returns. Maryland-based Lockheed Martin said 2012 sales grew to $47.2 billion from $46.5 billion the
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Date:
1/24/2013
Much of the reporting about Marillyn Hewson's surprise promotion to CEO of Lockheed Martin has focused on the fact that she is a woman in an industry traditionally dominated by men. No doubt about it, the demographics of the defense sector are changing dramatically. However, we ought to keep a
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Date:
11/13/2012
There aren't many people inside or outside Lockheed Martin who understand it better than Marillyn Hewson. She's been with the company for so long that when she first joined the legacy Lockheed Corporation in 1983, its merger with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin still lay over ten years in
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Date:
11/12/2012
Last week's disclosure that BAE Systems and EADS are in merger discussions has predictably sparked concerns among shareholders and stakeholders. Their fears can't be allayed until the two parties agree on all the details, but it is already clear why the companies think a combination makes sense.
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Date:
9/17/2012
Say the name Lockheed Martin and listeners might immediately think of the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Aegis air and missile defense system, military satellites, ballistic missiles and space launch systems. Lockheed also happens to be one of the nation’s premier IT and cyber security
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Date:
9/11/2012
The defense industry has become the backbone of what's left of manufacturing in the Northeast. But don't take my word for it, just look out the window of your car as you drive from D.C. to Cape Cod. From the sprawling Northrop Grumman electronics plant near Baltimore to the Boeing helicopter factory
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Date:
8/15/2012
The U.S. defense industry used to be regarded as a bastion of white male executives. It still is seen that way in some quarters, but the reality is that women are rapidly ascending into top jobs across the defense sector. Since the new year began, General Dynamics has announced its next Chairman
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Date:
7/30/2012
Northrop Grumman, one of the biggest military contractors in the world, disclosed a series of leadership changes yesterday reflecting the growing role of women at the top of the defense industry. In what amounts to a generational renewal of its senior ranks, the company elevated three top-performing
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Date:
7/24/2012
Senior executives of major defense companies rarely seek publicity. They also seldom openly criticize their customer, the Department of Defense, or the organization that provides that customer with funds, the U.S. Congress. So it is noteworthy when Robert Stevens, the outgoing CEO of Lockheed Martin
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Date:
6/20/2012
A widely-read defense blog recently opined that the Lexington Institute is dreaming of a Romney election victory. Well, guess again: I voted for Obama in 2008 and probably will again if Republicans can't learn to do honest arithmetic about the government's fiscal options. However, I confess that
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Date:
6/20/2012
The lead vessel in the Littoral Combat Ship program has reached the point in its development when self-appointed watchdogs begin to question its price and performance. The Project on Government Oversight has branded it a "busted, leaky boat" and called for cancellation of the whole class. Investigative
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Date:
5/14/2012
Robert J. Stevens last night informed Lockheed Martin's board of directors that he intended to retire as the company's Chief Executive Officer, and the board then voted to elevate his long-expected successor, Christopher E. Kubasik, to the CEO post effective January 1, 2013. Stevens will remain
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Date:
4/26/2012
The continuous pressure from Pentagon policymakers on F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin to cut pension costs has finally borne fruit: workers at the fighter plant voted by a huge margin Sunday to go out on strike, citing proposed changes to pensions. Although the company offered members of
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Date:
4/24/2012
The private sector has a number of techniques, called best practices, which they routinely employ to reduce costs and boost performance. A number of these have to do with supply chain management. One of the key reasons that the globalized economy works and companies such as Walmart makes a profit
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Date:
4/11/2012
Among the many crackpot theories that have taken root in popular culture is the belief that defense contractor Lockheed Martin has undue influence over the deliberations of the federal government. I can tell you from watching the Bethesda-based behemoth up close for 20 years that company executives
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Date:
3/19/2012
With demand for weapons headed downward in the Obama Administration's proposed five-year spending plan, now would seem like a good time for defense companies to consider diversifying into commercial work. Many of them have technology skills that seem fungible beyond defense, and the outlook for
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Date:
3/12/2012
Yesterday I did an investor call with Michael Lewis of Lazard Capital Markets concerning the outlook for the defense sector as military spending priorities shift. You can read Lazard's full report on my comments
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Date:
3/2/2012
Pentagon policymakers were smart to wait two weeks before disclosing the program changes that will accompany the administration's new national security strategy. The political system needs some time to assimilate the emerging strategic framework before it hears what revised military priorities
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Date:
1/6/2012
Japan's government announced today that it has decided to buy the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as its next top-of-the-line tactical aircraft, handing the stealthy plane a key endorsement in its first head-to-head competition with other fighters. The Clinton Administration conceived the F-35 as an
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Date:
12/20/2011
For nearly a decade now, diversification has been the "D" word in the defense industry -- the strategy that dare not speak its name. But conditions have deteriorated so badly in military markets that companies are contemplating expansion into adjacent areas, and even further afield. It's not just
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Date:
11/8/2011
The federal government's biggest provider of information technology and services is moving to leverage its fast-growing cyber-security business in new areas by creating a senior executive to pursue opportunities in "regulated and adjacent markets." The new executive, who has not been publicly identified,
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Date:
11/4/2011
Oh no. This is terrible. The program that critics of defense spending love to hate is becoming a normal acquisition program. What are the F-35 deniers to do? Well, they could go after the V-22 Osprey. Whoops, that’s not a good answer. The Osprey is performing amazingly well in combat and has the
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Date:
11/2/2011
There was a time when the Pentagon's idea of smart acquisition practices meant things like multiyear contracts and avoiding excessive testing. Not now. The current approach to promoting efficiency in weapons purchases is mainly about shifting risk to industry and cutting the performance of next-generation
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Date:
11/2/2011
When Northrop Grumman Chairman Wes Bush addressed a meeting of government officials and contractors at the company's new headquarters in Virginia last week, he began by thanking local officials for their help in moving to the location. Bush disclosed the decision to move the headquarters from Los
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Date:
10/11/2011
The Air Force senior leadership is adamant that their service must have the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). With its advanced stealth features and 21st century sensor capabilities, the JSF will be a game changer in air warfare not only for the Air Force but for the Navy and Marine Corps as well.
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Date:
9/26/2011
Michael Lewis of Lazard Capital Markets predicts that defense stocks will be encountering headwinds as the congressional super-committee set up to rein in deficits deliberates on budget cuts. Maybe so, but analysts have been surprised by the strong turnout at industry investor days and Lockheed
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Date:
9/13/2011
My critical commentary on commercial launch provider SpaceX appearing at Forbes.com last week attracted 11,000 readers and a handful of outraged responses from company supporters. I have followed up with a second commentary this week focusing on how SpaceX's track record compares with that of more
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Date:
5/31/2011
One thing's for sure about nuclear deterrence: it isn't likely to work if you don't know you're being attacked. That's why Lockheed Martin's disclosure on May 24 that the first Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellite has reached geosynchronous orbit was so important: because without it, the
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Date:
5/24/2011
Cyberwarfare is one of the few areas of national-security spending likely to grow in coming years. Not surprisingly, every major military contractor in the U.S. is trying to crowd into the field, with companies like BAE Systems and Raytheon aggressively buying up smaller players. However, the cyberwarfare
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Date:
5/10/2011
With Osama bin Laden now gone to his reward -- probably not the place where 72 virgins await him -- defense contractors must confront the possibility of a major downturn in military demand over the coming years. The Obama Administration has already canceled four of the top twelve weapons programs
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Date:
5/3/2011
In the years since the Cold War ended, the number of system integrators in many segments of the defense industry has declined significantly. A dozen missile producers became four, six naval shipbuilders became two, and the ranks of military aircraft manufacturers were reduced by half. However,
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Date:
4/12/2011
The popular investor website 24-7 Wall Street has named Lockheed Martin to its list of the ten corporations most crucial to America's economic future. Editors cited Lockheed's innovations in advanced military hardware and software, including
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Date:
4/8/2011
Date:
3/14/2011
I argued in a posting here last Friday that recent overseas surprises are likely to shift the vector of demand for defense goods. My reasoning was that unrest in the Middle East will make it harder to sell weapons there, but China's military buildup will force policymakers in Washington to pour
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Date:
2/8/2011
The big story for the defense industry in the January 6 budget cuts proposed by defense secretary Robert Gates was what didn't happen: after reducing future weapons outlays by $330 billion in previous rounds of budget cutting, this time Gates cut almost nothing. The headline story was termination
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Date:
1/7/2011
The Department of Defense announced yesterday that the government and prime contractor Lockheed Martin have signed a long-awaited contract for the fourth production lot of F-35 joint strike fighters. According to Andrea Shalal-Esa of Reuters, the fixed-price contract for multiple variants of the
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Date:
9/23/2010
The Sydney Morning Herald reports today that the chief executive officer of Australian shipbuilder Austal is resigning after only two years on the job. Nobody outside the company seems to know why he is leaving. Normally, few people in Washington would care why the CEO of a modest ($500
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Date:
9/22/2010
As domestic demand for military goods begins to soften, the U.S. defense industry is seeking to sustain profits by selling more of its products overseas. Although the United States already generates about two-thirds of all cross-border arms sales around the world, there appears to be considerable
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Date:
7/30/2010
Northrop Grumman's disclosure this week that it may exit the naval shipbuilding business has generated a wave of speculation among investors about defense-industry consolidation. Investors have long known that demand for defense goods and services would soften as U.S. forces began to withdraw from
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Date:
7/16/2010
The Boeing Company disclosed today that it intends to be a bidder in the competition to build a next-generation presidential helicopter. It said it had purchased the rights to build a domestic version of the AgustaWestland EH101 helicopter -- the same rotorcraft that Lockheed Martin offered in
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Date:
6/7/2010
You don't need a defense expert to tell you that domestic demand for military goods and services is likely to weaken in the years ahead. The war in Iraq is ending, the federal government is running a daily budget deficit of $4 billion, and the Obama Administration has an ambitious domestic agenda.
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Date:
5/14/2010
Sometime this summer an anonymous panel of Navy weapons experts will decide the economic future of a struggling town in rural northeastern Wisconsin. Marinette, Wisconsin is the home of the shipyard building the Lockheed Martin version of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a multi-mission warship
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Date:
4/15/2010
Seventeen years ago, I found myself riding the Washington Beltway through Tyson's Corner with one very happy defense executive. He was the chief financial officer of General Dynamics, and he had just sold his company's fighter plant in Fort Worth to Lockheed for over a billion dollars. Everybody
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Date:
3/1/2010
Tony Capaccio of Bloomberg Business News scooped the competition yesterday by revealing Pentagon plans to make major budget adjustments to its biggest weapons program, the F-35 fighter. Capaccio reported
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Date:
1/7/2010