2024: A Year of Innovation

The face of the world has changed, and the growing complexity of future conflicts calls for an all-inclusive approach. Leading the way in 21st Century Security® is the most advanced and connected fighter jet in the world - the F-35 Lightning II - with interoperability and capabilities our adversaries can't match.

As Lockheed Martin reflects on a year of groundbreaking advancements, these are the top 20 innovations from 2024.

1. In collaboration with NASA's Quesst Mission, the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® team is solving one of the most persistent challenges of supersonic flight - the sonic boom.

It was a successful year for the X-59, a unique experimental aircraft which began engine run testing, marking the start of the aircraft's final major system check-out before taxi tests and first flight in 2025.

This year, the U.S. Government awarded Sikorsky contracts to manufacture and deliver a total of 84 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters to international allies including Austria, Brazil, Croatia, Greece, Jordan and Thailand, further proving the Black Hawk is the premier multi-role utility helicopter around the globe.

3. Lockheed Martin launched Astris AI, a subsidiary focused on enabling the adoption of AI solutions across the U.S. defense industrial base and commercial industry sectors that have high assurance requirements.

The foundational tools available through Astris AI include Lockheed Martin's proven AI Factory Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) and generative AI software platforms, built with the security and compliance required for entities operating in highly regulated environments.

4. We unveiled Mako™, the innovative and compact hypersonic weapon traveling at more than five times the speed of sound.

Named after the fastest shark in the seas, Mako blazes down on time-sensitive targets when every second counts. Able to maneuver in a high-altitude hypersonic regime, it penetrates advanced air-defense systems to engage these high-value targets at or below hypersonic speeds, depending on mission requirements.

5. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency selected Lockheed Martin to provide the Next Generation Interceptor.

When every second counts, NGI's mission is to protect the homeland against increasing and evolving ballistic missile threats from rogue nations. In developing this revolutionary missile defense interceptor as part of the Missile Defense Agency's Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, Lockheed Martin is infusing the expertise of a skilled and diverse workforce and incorporating innovative digital technologies and techniques.

6. Lockheed Martin, in partnership with Rheinmetall, unveiled the Global Mobile Artillery Rocket System (GMARS) at Eurosatory 2024. 

As part of Lockheed Martin's 21st Century Security strategy, the company is partnering to deliver country-specific launcher solutions to support all-domain deterrence.

7. Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, unveiled its plan to build, test and fly a hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing demonstrator (HEX / VTOL) with a tilt-wing configuration.

The design is the first in a series of large, next-generation VTOL aircraft, ranging from more traditional helicopters to winged configurations. These aircraft will feature varying degrees of electrification and an advanced autonomy system for optionally piloted flight.

8. Aegis successfully integrated a diverse set of naval and joint systems to assist the U.S. Navy's mission.

In late 2023, Lockheed Martin and Navy experts began analyzing Red Sea engagements, where Aegis-equipped ships defended civilian vessels from attacks. Their goal: to strengthen the fleet's ability to counter drones and missiles. By early 2024, this effort paid off as Navy destroyers in the region received rapid Aegis system upgrades to address unique missile and drone threats, developed, tested, and installed faster than ever before.

9. NASA selected Lockheed Martin to develop and build GeoXO, the next-generation weather satellites for NOAA.

GeoXO will continue and expand upon critical observations of weather provided by the Lockheed Martin-built GOES-R Series geostationary satellites to include new capabilities that will deliver more accurate weather forecasting and address emerging environmental issues. Lockheed Martin was also awarded a contract from NASA to develop and build the next-generation Lightning Mapper (LMX). This advanced technology will give meteorologists a tool to create greater lead time in alerting people to severe storms and dangerous weather situations such as rapidly intensifying hurricanes.

10. Lockheed Martin demonstrated how to command an Autonomous Black Hawk Helicopter from 300 miles away.

During the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting in Washington, D.C., visitors and U.S. Army senior leaders saw how a Black Hawk helicopter integrated with Sikorsky's MATRIX™ autonomy system can receive remote mission commands in real-time. Then, carry out that mission on its own, using its onboard autonomous systems, without remote control or pilot inputs.

11. Lockheed Martin's AI Center demonstrated five separate AI-enabled capabilities for the U.S. Army.

At several 2024 U.S. Army demonstrations, such as Project Convergence and Army Futures Command's Experimental Demonstration Gateway Event (EDGE), Lockheed Martin demonstrated crewed-uncrewed teaming, uncrewed-uncrewed operations, Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) and integrated systems in various missions relevant to 21st Century Security® in all domains including through the digital frontier. 

12. Lockheed Martin announced ModSTAR™, a new transformative initiative that leverages model-based engineering to deliver new products faster and with planned modular upgrades, providing early and evolving capability to our customers.

ModSTAR shares digital and hardware models between programs, transforming the way we support customer requirements when developing new programs, ensuring scalable, flexible and open systems to meet evolving needs.

13. AI capabilities expanded internally with the launch of a powerful and secure internal GenAI tool.

Lockheed Martin introduced LMText Navigator to its U.S.-based workforce. The GenAI tool aims to increase efficiency across the entire enterprise by scaling code generation, analyzing data and streamlining business processes.

14. Lockheed Martin provided hands-on learning experiences to educate, inspire and prepare tomorrow's innovators and visionaries to tackle the world's most complex challenges.

Through key STEM-focused initiatives and programs like FIRST Robotics and activations during World Space Week, the global technological advantage and future success depends on a constant supply of highly trained, and highly capable technical talent.

15. Lockheed Martin was recognized as a world-class place to build a career.

Most innovative. Most trusted. Best for tech workers. Best for veterans. When thinking about what to be known for, attributes like these come to mind. So, it's a credit to Lockheed Matin's culture, leadership and every teammate that the company was recognized for outstanding performance against these categories (and others) in 2024.

16. The U.S. Marine Corps formally accepted the 23rd and final next-generation VH-92A® presidential helicopter built by Sikorsky.

The VH-92A helicopter will transport the President and Vice President of the United States and other officials. Sikorsky brings unmatched experience and a proven track record to this mission having flown every president since 1957. The VH-92A, also called a "White Top" due to its notable white and green livery, will continue this legacy for decades to come.

17. Lockheed Martin Australia signed a landmark contract with the Department of Defence to build Australia's future Joint Air Battle Management System under project - AIR6500 Phase 1.

This system will provide the Australia Defence Force with an advanced integrated air and missile defense capability, using next-gen technologies, to combat high-speed threats.

18. In facilities across the U.S., Lockheed Martin increased production of Javelin, HIMARS, GMLRS, PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) and more.

Lockheed Martin also received a contract award for Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM)and JASSM® to increase production capacity of JASSM and LRASM in support of critical weapons capacity for the United States and allies.

19. In partnership with multiple Department of Defense Services and Components, Lockheed Martin launched a PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor from an MK-70 containerized launch platform to engage a cruise missile target in flight.

This test marks the first time PAC-3 MSE was launched in this configuration, utilizing the Virtualized Aegis Weapon System, to intercept a live target.

20. Commitment to the customer has driven the development of the AGM-158 eXtreme Range (XR) cruise missile.

Stemming from the fully-qualified JASSM-ER system and the evolutionary LRASM system, the brand-new AGM-158 XR offers a low-risk solution at a fraction of the cost in significantly less time.