Skunk Works

Skunk Works is an official <a href="/facts/Pseudonym/A5EjmWxQ">pseudonym</a> for <a href="/facts/Lockheed_Martin/URp9BQpA">Lockheed Martin</a>'s Advanced Development Programs (ADP), formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. It is responsible for a number of aircraft designs, highly classified research and development programs, and exotic aircraft platforms. Known locations include <a href="/facts/United_States_Air_Force_Plant_42/jdaAt0eW">United States Air Force Plant 42</a> (Palmdale, California), <a href="/facts/United_States_Air_Force_Plant_4/NqEcrfy9">United States Air Force Plant 4</a> (Fort Worth, Texas), and Marietta, Georgia.
Skunk Works' history started with the <a href="/facts/Lockheed_P-38_Lightning/obGnR2Db">P-38 Lightning</a> in 1939 and the <a href="/facts/Lockheed_P-80_Shooting_Star/1euMcIa1">P-80 Shooting Star</a> in 1943. Skunk Works engineers subsequently developed the <a href="/facts/Lockheed_U-2/teouQIET">U-2</a>, <a href="/facts/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird/ESfv9oFq">SR-71 Blackbird</a>, <a href="/facts/Lockheed_F-117_Nighthawk/nmV3lC9Y">F-117 Nighthawk</a>, <a href="/facts/Lockheed_Martin_F-22_Raptor/uGSDLBu9">F-22 Raptor</a>, and <a href="/facts/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II/x0NWsvfC">F-35 Lightning II</a>, the latter being used in the <a href="/facts/Air_force/M9LeqXoY">air forces</a> of several countries. 
The Skunk Works name was taken from the "Skonk Oil" factory in the comic strip <a href="/facts/Li%2527l_Abner/WnbStJdr">Li'l Abner</a>. Derived from the Lockheed use of the term, the designation <a href="/facts/Skunkworks_project/vutdMFEN">"skunk works"</a> or "skunkworks" is now widely used in business, engineering, and technical fields to describe a group within an organization given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy, with the task of working on advanced or secret projects.

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Skunk Works