Ford Aerospace
Encyclopedia
Ford Aerospace & Communications Corp. was the aerospace and defense business of Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

. It consisted of (at least) the Space Systems Division (later Space Systems/Loral
Space Systems/Loral
Space Systems/Loral , of Palo Alto, California, is the wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications. It was acquired in 1990 for $715 million by Loral Corp. from Ford Motor Company as the Space Systems Division of Ford Aerospace...

) and the Western Development Labs (WDL) (later Loral WDL, and presently Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....

 WDL).

Partial company timeline:
  • 1956 Aeronutronic
    Aeronutronic
    Aeronutronic was a defense and space related division of Ford Motor Company set up in 1956. In 1961 Ford purchased Philco and merged the two companies in 1963. Aeronutronic provided major support for the development of Project Space Track...

     becomes Ford Motor Company division.
  • 1961 Ford Motor Company acquires Philco
    Philco
    Philco, the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company , was a pioneer in early battery, radio, and television production as well as former employer of Philo Farnsworth, inventor of cathode ray tube television...

     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 Ford Corporation becomes Ford Aerospace & Communications Corporation.
  • 1981 FACC starts new sister division to Aeroneutronics named DIVAD (Division Air Defense)for the production of the M247 Sgt. York
    M247 Sergeant York
    The M247 Sergeant York DIVAD was a self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon , developed by Ford Aerospace in the late 1970s. Based on the M48 Patton tank, it replaced the Patton's turret with a new one that featured twin radar-directed 40 mm rapid-fire guns...

     armor tracked vehicle (named in honor of legendary World War I sharpshooter and medal of honor recipient Sergeant Alvin York) which incorporated F-15 search-and-track radar directed twin 40 mm Bofors gun systems
    Bofors 40 mm gun
    The Bofors 40 mm gun is an anti-aircraft autocannon designed by the Swedish defence firm of Bofors Defence...

     in Newport Beach and Lake Forest, CA. Divad division dissolved in 1984 when Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger canceled the production contract and all existing Sgt.York units were dismantled for scrap. (D.V. Barker)
  • 1988 Ford Aerospace Milpitas CA location working on Nato Airbase Satcom (NABS) control facilities
  • 1993 Ford Aerospace sold to Loral Corporation
    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....

    .
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