Editing Skunk Works (section)

{{Short description|Aerospace research facility in the United States}}
{{Redirect|Skunk works|other uses|Skunkworks (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
[[File:Skunk works Logo.svg|thumb|Skunk Works logo]]

'''Skunk Works''' is an official [[pseudonym]] for [[Lockheed Martin]]'s '''Advanced Development Programs''' ('''ADP'''), formerly called '''Lockheed Advanced Development Projects.''' It is responsible for a number of aircraft designs, highly classified research and development programs, and exotic aircraft platforms. Known locations include [[United States Air Force Plant 42]] (Palmdale, California), [[United States Air Force Plant 4]] (Fort Worth, Texas), and Marietta, Georgia.<ref name="GA">{{Cite web |title=Marietta, Georgia - Where Legacies Begin |url=https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/careers/locations/marietta-georgia.html |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=Lockheed Martin |language=en}}</ref>

Skunk Works' history started with the [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38 Lightning]] in 1939<ref name="Bodie51" /><ref name=Wilson1969/> and the [[Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star|P-80 Shooting Star]] in 1943. Skunk Works engineers subsequently developed the [[Lockheed U-2|U-2]], [[Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird|SR-71 Blackbird]], [[Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk|F-117 Nighthawk]], [[Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor|F-22 Raptor]], and [[Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II|F-35 Lightning II]], the latter being used in the [[air force|air forces]] of several countries. 

The Skunk Works name was taken from the "Skonk Oil" factory in the comic strip ''[[Li'l Abner]]''. Derived from the Lockheed use of the term, the designation [[Skunkworks project|"skunk works"]] or "skunkworks" is now widely used in business, engineering, and technical fields to describe a group within an organization given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy, with the task of working on advanced or secret projects.