Lockheed Martin has named a new head for the company’s secretive advanced development programmes unit, better known as Skunk Works.
As part of a leadership shuffle announced on 3 December, OJ Sanchez was appointed to take over the research and development unit that is credited with developing such iconic aircraft as the SR-71 high-altitude reconnaissance jet and the F-117 fighter bomber – the world’s first operational stealth aircraft.
Sanchez previously managed Lockheed’s integrated fighter group (IFG), which includes the F-16 and F-22 programmes and the company’s international partnership with Korea Aerospace Industries on the T-50 trainer.
Lockheed’s president of aeronautics Greg Ulmer praised Sanchez in a 4 December post on LinkedIn.
“OJ has a clear vision for shaping the future of air dominance,” Ulmer says. “With threats becoming more complex, OJ is the right leader to integrate technologies that will secure the skies today and maintain a competitive edge in the future.”
A former F-22 fighter pilot with the US Air Force, Sanchez ran Lockheed’s F-22 programme for two years before taking the helm at the IFG in 2021. His replacement has not yet been named.
Sanchez succeeds John Clark as the general manager of Skunk Works, with Clark being promoted to Lockheed’s vice-president of technology and strategic innovation.
“I look forward to continuing our work on the cutting edge of technology and partnering with the incredible minds driving our mission forward,” Clark says in his own LinkedIn message. “Together, we will continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible.”
As head of Skunk Works, Clark held a rare media event in September at the annual Air & Space Forces Association conference near Washington, DC.
Among other details, he revealed that Lockheed was passed over for the first round of USAF autonomous fighter contracts awarded in April because the company pursued a more capable, stealthy design, rather than a cheaper, less-capable aircraft.
“Our increment one offering had higher levels of stealth than were necessary in the requirements because of the operational analysis conviction of building something that actually had value to the air force over the long haul,” Clark said.
He noted that Lockheed has shifted its focus toward a more expendable aircraft design for the next round of contract opportunities, but predicted the air force’s expectations for autonomous fighters will grow, with the service seeking to add more capability to each iteration of development.
Delivering that capability – and the associated contract wins – will now fall to Sanchez.
Much of that work will happen out of the public eye, as part of classified government programmes. Lockheed chief financial officer Jay Malave on 3 December confirmed the existence of at least one classified, fixed-price contract within the company’s aeronautics division.
“We’ll see what happens in in our ADP Skunk Works business,” Malave said. “But we’re projecting some growth there.”
Without revealing any details of the classified aeronautics programme, the CFO confirms Lockheed has “taken some charges” this year and is “not out of the woods from a risk perspective”.
Although it has not been publicly confirmed, Lockheed is widely believed to be a competitor in the USAF’s Next Generation Air Dominance effort to develop a sixth-generation manned fighter.
That project is currently facing an uncertain future, with air force leadership considering major changes in light of budgetary challenges and the increasing potential of unmanned aircraft.
