Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works Is Teaming with Supercar Maker McLaren -Why, We Don’t Know

In the kind of vague hyperbolic language that passes for a press release these days, a “collaboration” between Lockheed MartinLMT
Skunk Works and McLaren Automotive to explore futuristic design methods was announced early this week. What Lockheed’s busy innovation hub and a struggling British supercar maker will derive from collaborating is anyone’s guess.

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then the photo above of Mclaren’s $230,000 Artura hybrid sportscar in front Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs headquarters in Palmdale, CA would theoretically put other automakers on notice that McLaren is about to integrate some highly trick Skunk Works ingredients into its cars.

Likewise, it might be assumed that Skunk Works expects to realize process and technology transfer benefits from working with a supercar manufacturer that it has not previously thought of – not even for the F-117 Nighthawk or the Top Gun movie hypersonic Dark Star mockup the car is pictured with.

But neither Lockheed Martin nor McLaren is willing to offer any real information about what the pair plan to do. A McLaren press release claims that the collaboration will “focus on deploying a new Skunk Works’ design system, developed for the world of aviation, into the realms of high-performance, cutting-edge automotive supercar design.”

The extent of the company’s elaboration on what design system it’s referencing lies in its contention that, “The pioneering software sets the parameters for high-speed systems more accurately and swiftly than traditional design methods.”

If the software is “new” and “pioneering”, why is Lockheed Martin releasing it into the unclassified realm of a supercar project?

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works spokesperson, Candis Roussel, offered no clue, saying only that, “What we can share at this time is that Lockheed Martin Skunk Works sees great value in collaborating both within and outside of the Aerospace and Defense industry,” in an email response this afternoon.

That’s cheery if not at all specific. McLaren spokesperson, Laura Conrad, did confirm that the collaboration applies to the McLaren road car company, not to the eponymously-named Formula 1 racing team which could be expected to apply more advanced tech more freely than its counterpart. Ms. Conrad reiterated that the company could not share anything further at this time than is in the press release.

It may be telling that the release includes a quote from Darren Goddard, Chief Technical Officer, McLaren Automotive but does not include any words from Lockheed’s John Clark who took over as vice president and general manager of Skunk Works early this year. Lockheed Martin does not appear to have issued its own release on the collaborative project and its attention is likely focused on the sale of 35 F-35As to Germany confirmed earlier today.

Skunk Works has made recent news successfully integrating a dedicated 5G network and military tactical radios into a Hybrid Base Station capable of in-flight operations on unspecified aircraft. Over-the-air 5G and tactical network connectivity could be of significant communications/data-sharing value to U.S. aircraft.

McLaren Automotive’s recent news is related to financial pressures as a result of slow sales and supply chain bottlenecks. After successive recapitalization tranches from its majority shareholder, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, to the tune of $279 million since last summer, the business will likely need further capital in early 2023 according to Standard & Poor’s (S&P).

The high-profile appearance of the Dark Star hypersonic aircraft mock-up in Top Gun is a reminder Skunk Works has said, that the rapid design/engineering techniques used to build it are real. But those capabilities have long existed at Lockheed’s Advanced Programs division and indeed have been frequently referenced in numerous treatises on what others can learn from the innovation unit that legendary designer, Kelly Johnson, launched and oversaw.

McLaren might take inspiration from Skunk Works processes and business practices as many others have done but the fact that neither it nor Lockheed Martin is willing to share how they plan to deploy a new Skunk Works’ design system to supercar (or a rumored upcoming SUV or full EV) manufacturing suggests they may not really know themselves.