Lockheed Martin on Monday completed its planned leadership transition, with James Taiclet entering as its new president and CEO. He succeeds Marillyn Hewson, who remains with the company as executive chairman.
Taiclet, 60, will continue to serve on the company’s board, which he joined in 2018. Before leading Lockheed Martin, Taiclet was chairman, president, and CEO of American Tower Corp., which provides telecommunications real estate for wireless infrastructure.
In a note to the company’s employees on Monday, Taiclet said he’s “committed to building on the strong momentum our company has so impressively displayed in recent years.” He listed three priorities for working with its customers: “understanding their needs,” continuing to develop and apply “cutting edge technology,” and “perform with the highest standards of workplace safety and the highest levels of business ethics and integrity.”
Taiclet went on to say that “our customers depend on us to help them protect citizens, advance science and engineering, and build a better world. This is inspiring and energizing work, and I am dedicated to taking it on with you.” He also said he believes in the company’s mission and that joining Lockheed Martin is “answering a call to service.”
Taiclet is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and a former military pilot who served during the Persian Gulf War.
Lockheed Martin’s backlog at the end of its first quarter in March stood at $144.1 billion, a record. The company ended 2019 with a record $59.8 billion in sales and record earnings as well.
In April, the Air Force announced that Raytheon had edged out Lockheed for the contract to build the service’s next-generation nuclear cruise missile.
Lockheed is the prime contractor for the Air Force’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which will be certified to externally carry a pair of B61-12 nuclear gravity bombs as part of the Block IV software upgrade to the F-35A variant — the conventional-takeoff-and-landing version of the aircraft.
Lockheed also makes the Trident II-D5 missiles carried on Navy Ohio-class submarines and tipped with W76-1 and W88 nuclear warheads. Some missiles have a W76-2 low-yield warhead.
The company is part of the presumed Northrop Grumman-led prime for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent intercontinental ballistic missiles set to replace the Minuteman III fleet starting around 2030.
