F-117 Developments ??

FighterJock said:
Sea Shadow was the first and last stealth ship that Lockheed ever built for the US Navy, Lockheed has always said to this day that they will never work with the US Navy designing ships ever again. Which I think is a shame.
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I'm assuming that it's the same reason the midwest shipyards refuse to work with the Navy again. Constant design changes requiring them to rip out just completed structure.
 
FighterJock said:
Sea Shadow was the first and last stealth ship that Lockheed ever built for the US Navy, Lockheed has always said to this day that they will never work with the US Navy designing ships ever again. Which I think is a shame.
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It was a private venture. Lockheed refused to hand over patent rights so the USN instituted roadblocks in a series of ways to prevent it seeing the light of day for quite a long time.
 
Lockheed was quite right not to hand over patent rights back then, because it was their design after all and not the US Navy's.
 
Copyright has much longer terms than 20 years. You're thinking of a patent, which expires after 20 years.
 
Dynoman said:
Has there been any revelations as to the Navy program that was underdevelopment at the same time as the Lockheed Have Blue in the late 1970's (circ 1976)? General Bobby Bond of the USAF was infuriated that the Navy had a program that he thought was siphoning designs or technology from his stealth fighter program and busted down a door at Lockeed's building 83C to find out what it was.

I assumed that it was AMSS or something else. Obviously it was not AF-117X, but possibly another aircraft program? Ben Rich, in his memoir Skunkworks, recounts the event.
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I would love to know the answer to this.
 

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Hansblix said:
Is there a source for this?
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Rich’s book contains the original anecdote being referenced.

XST log documents sea shadow starting in 76.

Radar Man gives the actual start of sea shadow as a concept as 75

Etc
 
FighterJock said:
Sea Shadow was the first and last stealth ship that Lockheed ever built for the US Navy, Lockheed has always said to this day that they will never work with the US Navy designing ships ever again. Which I think is a shame.
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Freedom-class?
 
Would that mean that much of what we do not know about Sea Shadow is because it is still highly classified after all those years? Just a theory that I have got.
 
FighterJock said:
Would that mean that much of what we do not know about Sea Shadow is because it is still highly classified after all those years? Just a theory that I have got.
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There were efforts to sell Sea Shadow and her barge/hangar as a museum, which suggests there isn't too much deeply classified still in there.
 
Desertfox said:
I mean Lockheed designed the Freedom-class for the Navy after Sea Shadow...
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Only sort of. Gibbs & Cox actually did the naval architecture, derived from a hull shape created by Fincantierri. LM was more system integrator than ship designer. And Skunk Works was not prominently involved, if at all.
 

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