Ford Aerospace

Last updated
Ford Aerospace
Formerly
  • Aeronutronic
    (1956–1963)
  • Philco-Ford Corporation
    (1961–1975)
  • Aeronutronic Ford Corporation
    (1975–1976)
  • Ford Aerospace & Communications Corporation
    (1976–1988)
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Aerospace, military
Founded1956
Defunct1990;34 years ago (1990)
FateSold to Loral Corporation
Headquarters Dearborn, Michigan, US
Products Missiles, targeting pods
Parent Ford Motor Company

Ford Aerospace was the aerospace and defense division of Ford Motor Company. It was based in Dearborn, Michigan and was active from 1956 (originally as Philco and then Philco Ford) through 1990, when it was sold to the Loral Corporation. Major divisions were located in Palo Alto CA (Space Systems Division), San Jose CA (Western Development Laboratories) and Newport Beach (Aeronutronic Division). Other operations were located in a number of other states around the United States.

Contents

History

The company was established in 1956. It was renamed to "Ford Aerospace and Communications Corporation" in 1976, and then to "Ford Aerospace Corporation" in 1988.

The 99 acres (40 ha) Engineering and Research Center campus was located on Jamboree Road at Ford Road, overlooking the Santa Catalina Strait of the Pacific Ocean in Newport Beach. [1] [2] The facility's master plan and main buildings were designed by Modernist architect William Pereira in 1958. [3] Operation was moved to Newport Beach in 1960. [4]

In the 1960s and 1970s, business enjoyed rapid growth because of the success of the Sidewinder air-to-air missile and Chaparral surface-to-air missile programs. [4] In the 1970s, the Pave Tack bomb-targeting system became a significant contributor to revenue. [4]

The company included: Space Systems Division (later Space Systems/Loral) and the Western Development Labs (WDL) (later Loral WDL, and presently Lockheed Martin WDL) in Palo Alto, California with Aeronutronic (later Space Systems/Loral) at the Newport Beach site. [4]

Company timeline

A partial company timeline includes:

Products

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hughes Aircraft Company</span> American aerospace and defense company (1934–1997)

The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of Hughes Tool Company. The company produced the Hughes H-4 Hercules aircraft, the atmospheric entry probe carried by the Galileo spacecraft, and the AIM-4 Falcon guided missile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SSL (company)</span> American satellite and space systems manufacturer

SSL, formerly Space Systems/Loral, LLC (SS/L), of Palo Alto, California, is a wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of Maxar Technologies.

Loral Corporation was a defense contractor founded in 1948 in New York by William Lorenz and Leon Alpert as Loral Electronics Corporation. The company's name was taken from the first letters of each founder's surname.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courier 1B</span>

Courier 1B, is the world's first active repeater communications satellite, Courier 1B was successfully launched on October 4, 1960 at 17:45:00 GMT from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The first Courier satellite in Project Courier, Courier 1A, was lost 2.5 minutes after lift-off on August 18, 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pave Knife</span>

The Ford Aerospace AN/AVQ-10 Pave Knife was an early targeting pod developed by the USAF and US Navy to designate and guide laser-guided bombs.

Thiokol (variously Thiokol Chemical Corporation, Morton Thiokol Inc., Cordant Technologies Inc., Thiokol Propulsion, AICGroup, then part of Alliant TechsystemsInc., then ATK Thiokol, ATK Launch Systems Group; finally Orbital ATK before becoming part of Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems and Northrop Grumman was an American corporation concerned initially with rubber and related chemicals, and later with rocket and missile propulsion systems. Its name is a portmanteau of the Greek words for sulfur and glue, an allusion to the company's initial product, Thiokol polymer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M247 Sergeant York</span> Self-propelled antiaircraft gun

The M247 Sergeant York DIVAD was a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG), developed by Ford Aerospace in the late 1970s. Based on the M48 Patton tank, it replaced the Patton's turret with a new one that featured twin radar-directed Bofors 40 mm rapid-fire guns. The vehicle was named after Sergeant Alvin York, a famous World War I hero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MIM-72 Chaparral</span> Mobile SAM system

The MIM-72A/M48 Chaparral is an American-made self-propelled surface-to-air missile system based on the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile system. The launcher is based on the M113 family of vehicles. It entered service with the United States Army in 1969 and was phased out between 1990 and 1998. It was intended to be used along with the M163 VADS, the Vulcan ADS covering short-range short-time engagements, and the Chaparral for longer range use.

Aeronutronic was a defense related division of Ford Aerospace, owned by Ford Motor Company, and based in Newport Beach, Orange County, California.

Philco is an American electronics manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia. Philco was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. In 1961, the company was purchased by Ford and, from 1966, renamed "Philco-Ford". Ford sold the company to GTE in 1974, and it was purchased by Philips in 1981. In North America, the Philco brand is owned by Philips. In other markets, the Philco International brand is owned by Electrolux.

The Aerospace Corporation is an American nonprofit corporation that operates a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in El Segundo, California. The corporation provides technical guidance and advice on all aspects of space missions to military, civil, and commercial customers. As the FFRDC for national-security space, Aerospace works closely with organizations such as the United States Space Force (USSF) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to provide "objective technical analyses and assessments for space programs that serve the national interest". Although the USSF and NRO are the primary customers, Aerospace also performs work for civil agencies such as NASA and NOAA as well as international organizations and governments in the national interest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Space Operations Squadron</span> U.S. Space Force unit

The 1st Space Operations Squadron is a United States Space Force unit responsible for space-based space domain awareness. Located at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado, the squadron operates the Space Based Space Surveillance system, the Advanced Technology Risk Reduction system, the Operationally Responsive Space-5 satellite, and the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AIM-9 Sidewinder</span> Short-range air-to-air missile

The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a short-range air-to-air missile. Entering service with the United States Navy in 1956 and the Air Force in 1964, the AIM-9 is one of the oldest, cheapest, and most successful air-to-air missiles. Its latest variants remain standard equipment in most Western-aligned air forces. The Soviet K-13, a reverse-engineered copy of the AIM-9B, was also widely adopted.

Braddock, Dunn & McDonald, later known as BDM, then BDM International, was a technical services firm founded in 1959 in New York City. Its founders were Dr. Joseph V. Braddock, Dr. Bernard J. Dunn, and Dr. Daniel F. McDonald, who each received a PhD from Fordham University in the Bronx, New York. In 1997, TRW purchased BDM, and in 2002 Northrop Grumman bought TRW.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Army air defense</span> Air defense of the United States

United States Army air defense relies on a range of ground launched missiles, ranging from hand held to vehicle mounted systems. The Air Defense Artillery is the branch that specializes in anti-aircraft weapons. In the US Army, these groups are composed of mainly air defense systems such as the PATRIOT Missile System, Terminal High Altitude Air Defense, and the Avenger Air Defense system which fires the FIM-92 Stinger missile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter B. LaBerge</span>

Walter Barber LaBerge was an aerospace engineer and defense industry executive who served as United States Under Secretary of the Army from 1977 to 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stout Metal Airplane</span> American aircraft manufacturer

Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by William Bushnell Stout as the Stout Metal Airplane Co. in 1922. The company was purchased by Ford Motor Company in 1924 and later produced the Ford Trimotor. At the height of the Great Depression, Ford closed the aircraft design and production division in 1936, temporarily re-entering the aviation market with the production of the B-24, at the Willow Run aircraft factory during World War II.

Project Space Track was a research and development project of the US Air Force, to create a tracking system for all artificial satellites of the Earth and space probes, domestic and foreign.

The ZBGM-75 Advanced Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, also known as Weapons System 120A (WS-120A), was a program to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), proposed by the United States Air Force in the 1960s as a replacement for the LGM-30 Minuteman as the Air Force's standard ICBM. Funding was not allocated for the program and the project was cancelled in 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGM-35 Sentinel</span> Intercontinental ballistic missile

The LGM-35 Sentinel, also known as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), is a future American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile system (ICBM) currently in the early stages of development. It is slated to replace Minuteman III missiles from 2029 through 2075. The Minuteman missiles are currently stationed in North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Nebraska. In 2020 the Department of the Air Force awarded defense contractor Northrop Grumman a $13.3 billion sole-source contract for development of the LGM-35 after Boeing withdrew its proposal. Northrop Grumman's subcontractors on the LGM-35 include Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Bechtel, Honeywell, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Parsons, Textron, and others.

References