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Lockheed Skunk Works
June 1943 (XP-80 jet built in 143 days)· Arms maker, factory or program· Arms makers & war industry
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Lockheed's secret advanced-projects division, famous for building radical aircraft fast with small teams.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
In June 1943 the Army needed a jet fighter to answer Germany's. Kelly Johnson's small Lockheed team built the XP-80 in 143 days, working in a rented circus tent in Burbank. The nickname came from the 'Skonk Works,' a foul-smelling backwoods still in the comic strip 'Li'l Abner.' Officially Advanced Development Programs, the unit later built the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes and the F-117 stealth jet, and moved to Palmdale.
Why it matters
It showed that a small, trusted team with little paperwork could leap ahead of rivals, and 'skunkworks' became business slang for such teams.
How we know
Kelly Johnson's autobiography (1985), Ben Rich's memoir 'Skunk Works' (1994), declassified CIA and Air Force histories, and surviving aircraft in museums.
Still debated
Much of its work since the 1980s is still classified, so its current projects and their costs are largely unknown to the public.
Connections (6)
▸Lockheed Skunk Works flew its secret prototypes at Area 51 (Groom Lake) and secret 'black' aircraft programsWell documented
The connection
Needing a hidden place to test the U-2, Skunk Works test pilot Tony LeVier helped pick a dry lakebed at Groom Lake, Nevada, in 1955. Kelly Johnson nicknamed it 'Paradise Ranch' to lure workers. The A-12, Have Blue and F-117 later flew there, and sightings of them fed UFO rumors.
When and how
Groom Lake, Nevada, from 1955; the CIA, the Air Force and Lockheed's Skunk Works.
How we know
CIA histories declassified in 2013 officially acknowledged the site; a 1997 CIA study linked many 1950s–60s UFO reports to its spy planes.
Debates and open questions
What is tested there now remains classified, and UFO beliefs about the base persist despite the official explanations.
▸Lockheed (later Lockheed Martin) set up, in 1943, the Lockheed Skunk WorksWell documented
The connection
In 1943 Lockheed let Kelly Johnson set up a small, separate team with its own budget, few managers and tight secrecy to build the XP-80 jet fast. The model worked so well that Lockheed kept it, and the unit became the company's engine for secret projects.
When and how
Burbank, California, June 1943; later moved to Palmdale; part of Lockheed Martin since 1995.
How we know
Lockheed company records and Johnson's and Ben Rich's memoirs; Lockheed Martin still holds the 'Skunk Works' trademark.
Debates and open questions
Whether a small, rule-light unit can still thrive inside a giant modern contractor, under today's Pentagon rules, is debated by defense analysts.
▸Clarence 'Kelly' Johnson founded and led the Lockheed Skunk WorksWell documented
The connection
Johnson founded the Skunk Works in 1943 and ran it for 32 years. His '14 rules' gave a small team broad authority, minimal reports and close daily contact with the customer. Under him it produced the P-80, U-2, A-12 and SR-71. His deputy Ben Rich succeeded him in 1975.
When and how
Burbank, California, 1943–1975; Johnson, Ben Rich and teams of a few dozen to a few hundred engineers and mechanics.
How we know
Johnson's written rules, his autobiography and Rich's memoir, plus CIA and Air Force records of the programs.
Debates and open questions
How much credit belongs to Johnson versus his team is debated; he even doubted the faceted stealth design his successor Ben Rich pushed through.
▸Lockheed Skunk Works designed and built the U-2 spy planeWell documented
The connection
Hired by the CIA in late 1954, the Skunk Works built the U-2, a jet-powered glider able to fly above 70,000 feet, in about eight months. From 1956 it photographed Soviet bases, showing the feared 'bomber gap' was false, until a Soviet missile downed pilot Francis Gary Powers in 1960.
When and how
Burbank, then Groom Lake, Nevada; first flight August 1955; Soviet overflights July 1956 – May 1960, under CIA program head Richard Bissell.
How we know
CIA histories declassified in 1998 and 2013, the photographs themselves, and Soviet records of the Powers shootdown.
Debates and open questions
Whether the overflights' intelligence was worth the risk is debated: the Powers shootdown wrecked the 1960 Paris summit.
▸Lockheed Skunk Works built the first operational Stealth aircraft (F-117 Nighthawk)Well documented
The connection
In the 1970s Skunk Works engineers used a Soviet physicist's equations to compute how flat facets reflect radar. They built the Have Blue test planes in 1977, then the F-117 Nighthawk, which first flew in 1981 and stayed secret until 1988. Its angled panels scattered radar waves away from receivers.
When and how
Burbank and Groom Lake, Nevada, 1975–1988; Ben Rich's team, engineer Denys Overholser and the Air Force; 64 F-117s built in all.
How we know
Declassified Air Force histories, Ben Rich's memoir, and Pyotr Ufimtsev's published 1962 Soviet paper on radar wave diffraction.
Debates and open questions
A Serbian missile crew shot down an F-117 in 1999, showing stealth is not invisibility; whether its wreckage helped Russia or China is unconfirmed.
▸Lockheed Skunk Works built the F-117s that opened the Desert Storm air campaignWell documented
The connection
On the first night of Desert Storm, F-117 stealth jets flew into Baghdad's dense air defenses and bombed command and communications centers with laser-guided bombs. No F-117 was lost. The Air Force said the planes flew about 2% of attack sorties but struck about 40% of strategic targets.
When and how
Baghdad and across Iraq, from January 17, 1991; about 40 F-117s of the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing, flown from Saudi Arabia.
How we know
Air Force mission records and the Gulf War Air Power Survey (1993); a 1997 GAO review found some precision claims overstated.
Debates and open questions
How accurate the F-117's bombing really was, and how decisive stealth was compared with jamming and other aircraft, remains debated.