Deploying it ….
Feeling it …
Massive inequality … getting worse
Huge injustice….ongoing for decades
Nature destruction….limiting humankind’s future options
Propaganda press…. cover ups off the scale
Global warming…killing millions
Misogyny…as bad as ever
War and violence …. celebrated like never before and used to enrich billionaires
Market manipulation and bad capitalism … deployed to demonise social capitalism as “communism”
Context
The people (eg Brazil, France, India etc ) aren’t buying it
Undertaxed industries including banks and social-media companies, AI, press (who are partly deploying the fear-propaganda narratives) are on the ropes while pretending they aren’t
Lockheed Martin today on x, above, context from ChatGPT, below
Skunk Works is Lockheed Martin’s highly secretive advanced research and development division. Its job is to invent, design and test military aircraft and other technologies that are often decades ahead of conventional aerospace engineering.
Think of it as Lockheed Martin’s experimental laboratory for the future of warfare.
What does it actually develop?
Its main areas of work include:
- Stealth technology – Aircraft designed to evade radar and other detection systems.
- Hypersonic and supersonic flight – Developing aircraft capable of extremely high speeds.
- Unmanned aircraft – Autonomous drones for reconnaissance, surveillance and combat.
- Artificial intelligence – AI systems that can assist pilots or control aircraft and coordinate multiple drones.
- Advanced military systems – Integrating aircraft, sensors, weapons and communications into sophisticated combat networks.
Its most famous creations
U-2 Dragon Lady (1950s)
High-altitude spy aircraft used for intelligence gathering.
SR-71 Blackbird (1960s)
Mach 3.2 reconnaissance aircraft, capable of flying above 80,000 feet.
F-117 Nighthawk (1970s–80s)
One of the first operational stealth aircraft.
RQ-170 Sentinel
A highly classified stealth reconnaissance drone.
Why is it so secretive?
Skunk Works was established in 1943 under engineer Clarence “Kelly” Johnson.
Its original purpose was to develop advanced aircraft quickly, outside the slower bureaucratic processes of conventional defence procurement.
It became famous for:
- Small, highly specialised engineering teams.
- Working directly with military intelligence and defence authorities.
- Rapid prototyping and testing.
- Keeping projects classified until they were ready to be revealed.
Some of its programmes remain secret, and outsiders cannot reliably establish everything it is developing.
What is it working on now?
Its publicly acknowledged priorities include autonomous combat aircraft, AI-controlled drone systems, next-generation stealth and advanced command-and-control technology. One interesting programme is Vectis, a proposed collaborative combat aircraft designed to operate alongside crewed fighter jets. Lockheed Martin +2
The really interesting point: Skunk Works is moving beyond designing individual aircraft. Increasingly, it is developing systems in which human pilots, autonomous drones, AI and weapons operate together as a coordinated military force.
That potentially represents a fundamental change in how air warfare is conducted.
Lockheed Martin’s official Skunk Works website provides an insight into its publicly disclosed work.
Don’t be hopeless and afraid
