A newly opened factory on the Skunk Works complex heralds a new era and a return to series manufacturing by Lockheed Martin's 78-year-old advanced development programs business unit.
Steve Trimble answers: It is fair to say that the U.S. Army is on a missile-buying spree. Since the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in December 1987, the service’s missile inventory had been limited to the 300-km (186-mi.) range of the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System and 70-km range of the M-270 Multiple Launch Rocket System. But the U.S. and Russia withdrew from the treaty on Aug. 2, 2019, freeing the Army to fill the gap in its arsenal for ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with conventional warheads and ranges between 500-5,000 km.
The baseline version of the Lockheed Martin Precision Strike Missile will enter service in two years with a range of 499 km, but a follow-on version due to be ready in 2025 is expected to have a range up to 800 km. Moreover, the Army has selected the Raytheon SM-6 ballistic missile and UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile for a new ground-launched role, with ground-launched prototypes scheduled to debut in 2023.
Steve Trimble responds: Lockheed Martin flew the first weight-optimized F-35, known as “BF-1,” on June 11, 2008. The first Lockheed Martin F-22, bearing tail number 4001, flew on Sept. 7, 1997, or about 6.5 years after contract award. Finally, Northrop flew the original B-2 on July 17, 1989, or about eight years after winning the contract.
For the B-21, the Air Force would like to move faster. One clue is in the name of the organization managing the program: the Rapid Capabilities Office. Upon contract award in October 2015, the Air Force also emphasized that the B-21 would mainly leverage existing technologies, in hopes of avoiding lengthy delays caused by high-risk technology glitches.