Ford Aerospace was the

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

and

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

division of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

. It was based in

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...

and was active from 1956 (originally as Philco and then Philco Ford) through 1990, when it was sold to the

Loral Corporation Loral Corporation was a defense contractor founded in 1948 in New York by William Lorenz and Leon Alpert as Loral Electronics Corporation. The company's name was taken from the first letters of each founder's surname. History Loral Corporation o ...

. Major divisions were located in Palo Alto CA (Space Systems Division), San Jose CA (Western Development Laboratories) and Newport Beach (Aeronutronic Division). Other operations were located in a number of other states around the United States.

History

The company was established in 1956. It was renamed to "Ford Aerospace and Communications Corporation" in 1976, and then to "Ford Aerospace Corporation" in 1988. The Engineering and Research Center campus was located on Jamboree Road at Ford Road, overlooking the Santa Catalina Strait of the Pacific Ocean in Newport Beach.Los Angeles Times.com: "Ford Aerospace Treated for Years Like a Stepchild : Defense: The auto maker has announced plans to sell its Newport Beach-based unit. But critics say the firm was abandoned long ago."
14 January 1990. Newport Beach.gov: Aeronutronic Ford (Planned Community) District
by Planning Division Staff, Community Development Department; 18 December 2013. The facility's master plan and main buildings were designed by

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

architect

William Pereira William Leonard Pereira (April 25, 1909 – November 13, 1985) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, who was noted for his futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. Remarkably pr ...

in 1958.Google Books.com: ''The Architecture of Industry: Changing Paradigms in Industrial Building and Planning''
by Mathew Aitchison; pg. 69; Routledge Press 2014. Operation was moved to Newport Beach in 1960. In the 1960s and 1970s, business enjoyed rapid growth because of the success of the Sidewinder air-to-air missile and

Chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

surface-to-air missile programs. In the 1970s, the

Pave Tack The Ford Aerospace AN/AVQ-26 Pave Tack is an electro-optical targeting pod for military attack aircraft. It uses a laser and a forward looking infrared to find and designate targets for laser-guided bombs and other precision-guided munitions. Pa ...

bomb-targeting system became a significant contributor to revenue. The company included: Space Systems Division (later

Space Systems/Loral SSL, formerly Space Systems/Loral, LLC (SS/L), of Palo Alto, California, is a wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of Maxar Technologies. SSL designs and builds satellites and space systems for a wide variety of government and commercial cust ...

) and the Western Development Labs (WDL) (later

Loral Loral may refer to: * Loral Corporation, contractor founded in 1948 in New York by William Lorenz and Leon Alpert as Loral Electronics Corporation * Loral Space & Communications, satellite communications company * Loral GZ-22, a non-rigid airship * ...

WDL, and presently

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

WDL) in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

with

Aeronutronic Aeronutronic was a defense related division of Ford Aerospace, owned by Ford Motor Company, and based in Newport Beach, Orange County, California. The Engineering and Research Center campus was located on Jamboree Road at Ford Road, overlooking ...

(later

) at the Newport Beach site.Los Angeles Times.com: "Newport Plant Put in Limbo by Ford Sale : Defense industry: With the aerospace subsidiary under new ownership, the future of its Aeronutronic division in Orange County is up in the air." (July 24, 1990)

Company timeline

A partial company timeline includes: *1956

becomes a Ford Motor Company division. *1961 Ford Motor Company acquires

Philco Philco (an acronym for Philadelphia Battery Company) is an American electronics industry, electronics manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia. Philco was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. In 1961, the company was purchased ...

Corporation, later named Philco-Ford Corporation. *1963 Ford Motor Company folds Aeronutronic into Philco, strengthening Ford Motor Company's overall participation in space and defense markets. *1975 Philco-Ford becomes Aeronutronic Ford Corporation *1976 Aeronutronic Ford Corporation becomes Ford Aerospace & Communications Corporation. *1981 FACC starts new sister division to Aeroneutronics in Southern California named DIVAD (Division Air Defense) for the production of the M247 Sgt. York armor tracked vehicle (named in honor of legendary World War I sharpshooter and medal of honor recipient Sergeant Alvin York) which incorporated F-16 search-and-track radar directed twin 40 mm Bofors gun systems in Newport Beach and Lake Forest, CA. Divad division dissolved in 1984 when Defense Secretary

Caspar Weinberger Caspar Willard Weinberger (August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006) was an American statesman and businessman. As a prominent Republican, he served in a variety of state and federal positions for three decades, including chairman of the Californ ...

canceled the production contract and all existing Sgt.York units were dismantled for scrap. (D.V. Barker) *1988 Ford Aerospace San Jose CA location working on NATO Airbase SATCOM (NABS) Skynet control facilities *1990 Ford Aerospace sold to Loral Corporation. The sale did not include the lease of land for the Newport Beach plant that the buyer was required to vacate within five years.

Products

AGM-88 HARM The AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) is a tactical, air-to-surface missile, air-to-surface anti-radiation missile designed to home in on electronic transmissions coming from surface-to-air radar systems. It was originally developed ...

(subcontractor) *

AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prov ...

* AN/AAS-38 (F/A-18 FLIR) *

Have Dash Have Dash was a program conducted by the United States Air Force for the development of a stealthy air-to-air missile. Although the Have Dash II missile appears to have been flight tested, the results of the project remain classified and no prod ...

LGM-118 Peacekeeper The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, originally known as the MX for "Missile, Experimental", was a MIRV-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced and deployed by the United States from 1985 to 2005. The missile could carry up to twelve Mark ...

(subcontractor) *

LGM-30 Minuteman The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G Minuteman III version is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and r ...

(subcontractor) *

MGM-51 Shillelagh The Ford MGM-51 ''Shillelagh'' (MGM meaning Mobile Guided Missile) was an American anti-tank guided missile designed to be launched from a conventional gun (cannon). It was originally intended to be the medium-range portion of a short, medium, a ...

MIM-72 Chaparral The MIM-72A/M48 Chaparral is an American-made self-propelled surface-to-air missile system based on the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile system. The launcher is based on the M113 family of vehicles. It entered service with the United States A ...

Pave Knife The Ford Aerospace AN/AVQ-10 Pave Knife was an early targeting pod developed by the USAF and US Navy to designate and guide laser-guided bombs. Pave Knife was developed in 1969 to replace the original, essentially improvised Airborne Laser Desi ...

UGM-73 Poseidon The UGM-73 Poseidon missile was the second US Navy nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) system, powered by a two-stage solid-fuel rocket. It succeeded the UGM-27 Polaris beginning in 1972, bringing major advances in warhea ...

(subcontractor) *

Trident (missile) The Trident missile is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV). Originally developed by Lockheed Missiles and Space Corporation, the missile is armed with thermonuc ...

(subcontractor)

References

External links

University of California Irvine Library, Online Archives: "Aerial view of Ford Aeronutronics Plant in 1960" Flickr.com: "Aerial view of Ford Ford Aerospace & Communications & Newport Beach c.1983
{{Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company Aerospace companies of the United States Defense companies of the United States Technology companies based in Greater Los Angeles Companies based in Newport Beach, California Loral Space & Communications Manufacturing companies established in 1956 Technology companies established in 1956 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1990 Technology companies disestablished in 1990 1956 establishments in California 1990 disestablishments in California Defunct manufacturing companies based in Greater Los Angeles Buildings and structures in Newport Beach, California Buildings and structures completed in 1958 Demolished buildings and structures in California William Pereira buildings

History

Company timeline

Products

See also

References

External links