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Lockheed

United States · Founded 1912

Military giants, one beautiful trijet, and the fastest aircraft ever built.

Aircraft here8
Longest75.31 m
Combined built6,476
First flights1955–2006
The company

The story so far

Lockheed's reputation rests on doing what others could not: the U-2, the SR-71 Blackbird, and — in the heavy-lift world — the C-5 Galaxy, which for decades was the largest aircraft in the Western world and can still swallow loads nothing else in NATO can carry.

Its one great airliner was the L-1011 TriStar: technically the most advanced jet of its decade, capable of automatic landings in 1972, and a commercial disaster that ended Lockheed's civil aircraft business for good. The company merged with Martin Marietta in 1995 to become Lockheed Martin.

The line-up

Lockheed aircraft

Silhouettes are sized by real wingspan — bigger aircraft draw bigger.

Lockheed C-5
Lockheed L-1011
Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
F-22 Raptor
Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk
F-35 Lightning II
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon
Grid
Side by side

Every type, ranked by length

AircraftLengthWingspanFirst flightStatus
Lockheed C-5 Galaxy75.31 m67.89 m1968In service — USAF, modernised as C-5M
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar54.17 m47.34 m1970Retired (one rocket launcher)
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird32.74 m16.94 m1964Retired (1998)
Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk20.09 m13.20 m1981Retired from front-line service (2008)
Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady19.20 m31.39 m1955Out of production — in service
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor18.92 m13.56 m1997Out of production (2011) — in service
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II15.70 m10.70 m2006In production — in service
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon15.06 m9.96 m1974In production — in service
Sources
Primary sources
Further reading