MASSIVE HANGAR 601 STILL ACTIVE FACILITY NEEDED FOR C-130 WORK.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer PALMDALE - Lockheed Martin For the former company, see . Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a leading multinational aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. has dropped the idea of mothballing Mothballing The preservation of a production facility without using it to produce. Machinery in a mothballed facility is kept in working order so that production may be restored quickly if needed. its mammoth Building 601. The company says it has ongoing work in modifying specialized C-130 Big Safari planes now in use in Afghanistan, plus there is the possibility of additional work coming to the company from fighter jet programs. ``After 9-11 there was an increased need for the Big Safari program,'' said company spokeswoman Dianne Knippel. ``We are in the war effort and performing well with the quick-turnaround needs for the government.'' Lockheed Martin had studied the idea of shutting down the million- square-foot hangar as a possible cost-saving move, but it has now rejected the idea as impractical. The building houses a variety of aircraft industry functions, including work on the Big Safari program that modifies C-130s for missions such as jamming enemy command and control centers and outfitting them as flying radio and TV stations for psychological warfare psychological warfare Use of propaganda against an enemy, supported by whatever military, economic, or political measures are required, and usually intended to demoralize an enemy or to win it over to a different point of view. It has been carried on since ancient times. . The aircraft have seen extensive use in the Afghanistan campaign and are frequently mentioned in Pentagon war briefings. Citing the war effort and security concerns, the company will not discuss details of that work. Building 601 is an icon of the L-1011 jetliner production days - and an eye-catching structure to people entering the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley . Built in the late 1960s at a cost of $50 million - about $226 million in today's dollars - Building 601 was dedicated in 1970. The hangar housed L-1011 jetliner production, which ran from the early 1970s to 1983. Having the building available also leaves options open as Lockheed Martin decides how it will proceed with the joint strike fighter program The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) became synonymous with the later F-35 Lightning II, however until 2001 the term was applied to the competition between the Boeing X-32 and Lockheed Martin X-35. and what work will be done in Palmdale. Selected in October to develop the joint strike fighter A strike fighter is a fighter aircraft which is also capable of attacking surface targets, including ships. It differs from an attack aircraft in that the aircraft remains a capable fighter. , Lockheed Martin officials anticipated the Palmdale site would be used to produce specialized, stealthly parts for the jet fighters. The plant already produces parts for the F-22 Raptor “F-22” redirects here. For other uses, see F-22 (disambiguation). The F-22 Raptor is a fifth-generation American fighter aircraft that utilizes fourth-generation stealth technology. , which is assembled in Georgia. |
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