The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
I’d like to think that Marillyn Hewson had this quote in mind when she was devising her plan of focus for Lockheed Martin. It is true that Lockheed Martin just pitched a slew of new futuristic weapons to the Pentagon, however, there is a method to their madness. Hewson believes that if Lockheed Martin focuses on three specific areas of research and development, our nations militaries will have an upper hand in defending our country.
Lockheed Martin CEO Pitches Lasers and Hypersonic Planes to Pentagon
Recently, the CEO of Lockheed Martin, Marillyn Hewson, has pitched new weapon designs to the United States government. Hewson pitched a slew of new ideas including, hypersonics, laser weapons, electronic warfare and artificial intelligence. All of these products may one day become integral parts of the United States defense system.
These new weapons come into play during a very strained period in the history of international relations. A few weeks ago, the President of Russia remarked “They have not succeeded in holding Russia back.” in regards to his unveiling of new nuclear weapons. “Now they need to take account of a new reality and understand that everything I have said today is not a bluff.”
Considering the new weapons Lockheed Martin has also unveiled mere weeks after President Putin, we are well aware of their capabilities, and are preparing to better defend ourselves.
Lockheed Martin’s New Approach to Innovation
The board of Lockheed Martin is fully aware that they have the technology to reach new heights. They just need a strategy to begin breaking new barriers. Lockheed Martin has decided to focus on three areas of innovation to create new sophisticated weaponry.
Firstly, they are going to focus on hypersonics. This technology would help our nation’s aircraft achieve speeds greater than Mach five. Hewson believes this could help our nation’s defenses better respond to and deter attacks. Hypersonic aircraft or missiles would allow our armies an advantage in time-sensitive fights. Hewson also believes that hypersonic technology is on par with that of stealth technology, and could be an incredible tactical advantage to our nation.
Hewson also believes that a proper investment in laser weapons would benefit the security of the nation as well. Lasers weren’t added to the agenda just because they’re incredibly cool. Hewson believes that investing more time, money and research into laser technology is the right answer to the question of how to deal with the rise of drone technology.
“Lasers are the best match for high-volume, low-cost threats such as drones, which are becoming increasingly prevalent on the battlefield.”
In this quote, it is clear that drones may become an increasing threat to various nations, because of how easy and cheap it is to produce them.
Hewson also revealed that Lockheed Martin has already been working with several branches of the military in terms of the research and development of laser weapons.
“We’ve increased the power of our systems while maintaining beam quality and optimizing size and weight, as demonstrated with the world record-setting 60-kilowatt laser we delivered to the U.S. Army last year.
We have also received a contract from the U.S. Navy to develop and deliver two laser weapon systems for shipboard integration by 2020. And we’re working with the Air Force Research Lab to develop a high-power fiber laser for testing on a tactical fighter jet by 2021,”
Lastly, Hewson is having Lockheed Martin focus on electronic warfare. Since our militaries are becoming increasingly dependent on electronics, Hewson is being proactive in turning Lockheed Martins attention to technologies that are resistant to communication jammers, or other electronic jamming technologies.
All things considered, war is fought on a constantly changing battlefield. Our enemies will always try to concoct new strategies or tactics to get the upper hand, and as a nation, we should always plan to be one step ahead.
However, the great minds of this country, such as Hewson, are also creating new defensive strategies in order to prepare for the worst. Lockheed Martin is just one of the many companies to answer that call to defend our country as well as others.
Image Credit: keiththomasbooks
