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Recognizing 70 Years of Innovation
Since 1943, the Skunk Works® has existed to create breakthrough technologies and landmark aircraft that continually redefine flight. Looking back, the accomplishments may stand out but it is the lessons learned along the way that will define the solutions of the future.
For us, it has always been about the future. Whether we are helping our customer reimagine an existing aircraft or developing a clean sheet design for an aircraft that could radically change the way we respond to conflict, we are here for one purpose only and that is to help our customers achieve their mission success.
For 70 years of partnership and trust, we say thank you to our customers.
Our customers have given us meaningful work that has challenged us to do our very best. The science of flight and the art of aerodynamics combined with the courage to fail, to try again and to one day succeed, for that spirit of invention and that focus on mission, we thank our employees.
The Skunk Works® of today is focused on the critical aircraft for tomorrow. Advanced technology solutions for manned and unmanned systems draw on our world-class capabilities in conceptual design, systems engineering and integration, complex project management, software development and rapid prototyping. These core capabilities tie to the foundation of the Skunk Works® where founder Kelly Johnson’s mantra, “quick, quiet and quality,” guides each and every project from concept to flight.
originally posted by: Bedlam
a reply to: ArmyOfNobunaga
Skunk Works doesn't just work on airplanes. Grant you, both Skunk Works and Phantom Works' projects generally tie BACK to some sort of aerospace project. But they do a lot of r&d outside plane designs.
You might try asking yourself, "Self, what would a smallish fusion reactor be good for on an airplane"
And where, pray tell, are you getting this "working on it for 60 years" thing you keep saying on multiple threads?
"We can make a big difference on the energy front," McGuire said, noting Lockheed's 60 years of research on nuclear fusion as a potential energy source that is safer and more efficient than current reactors based on nuclear fission.
originally posted by: Yeahkeepwatchingme
a reply to: Bedlam
Maybe he meant Roswell? I have no doubt they've reverse engineered technology but I also believe they've made a lot of advances that are kept secret.
originally posted by: Quantum_Squirrel
i come to the Ops defence cos i have seen it before
Q
originally posted by: Bedlam
originally posted by: Quantum_Squirrel
i come to the Ops defence cos i have seen it before
Q
There you go. That's what I was looking for. I know they've been diddling around with it since NERVA, but no-one's pulled it off yet. Well, not in a way that makes more energy than you put in.
originally posted by: Laxpla
a reply to: Bedlam
Put it into the X-37 with a laser?
The high beta fusion reactor (also known as the 4th generation prototype T4) is a project being developed by a team led by Charles Chase of Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. The "high beta" configuration allows a compact fusion reactor design and speedier development timeline (5 years instead of 30). It was presented at the Google Solve for X forum on February 7, 2013.[1] Design The device is 2x2x4 meters in size. It is cylindrical shaped. It has a vacuum inside with high magnetic fields, made using electromagnets. Uncharged deuterium gas is injected. It is heated using radio waves, in much the same way a microwave heats food. When the gas temperature reaches over 16 electron-volts, the gas ionizes into ions and electrons. This plasma exerts a pressure on the surrounding magnetic fields. This plasma pressure is counterbalanced by the magnetic field pressure in a beta ratio: beta = frac[p][p_[mag]] = frac[n k_B T][(B^2/2mu_0)] [2]
The plan is to reach a high-beta ratio. Plans call for a compact 100 MW machine. In October 2014, Reuters reported that Lockheed Martin "would build and test a compact fusion reactor in less than a year, and build a prototype in five years."[3] The company hopes to be able to meet global baseload energy demand by 2050. Here are some other characteristics of this machine: