The Future of Airpower

Recorded on the floor of the Farnborough Airshow, this conversation puts Ken across the table from OJ Sanchez, two months into his role leading Lockheed Martin’s Aeronautics business. They get into what it takes to build roughly 150 F-35s a year, with partners in Italy, Japan, Germany, and Finland making pieces of the same airplane. OJ talks about training a workforce in Greenville, South Carolina, why Lockheed invested billions in parts ahead of government budgets, what the defense industry is learning from Ukraine about speed, and what it means to connect air, space, land, and sea in real time.

Key Takeaways from the Conversation

• The F-35 line in Fort Worth is more than a mile long and produces roughly 150 aircraft a year.
• A global industrial base is part of the design. Partners across Italy, Japan, Germany, and Finland build major pieces of the airplane.
• Lockheed invested billions in parts ahead of government budgets, betting on demand before contracts caught up.
• Workforce development is happening on the ground, including trade school partnerships in Greenville, South Carolina.
• Ukraine has shortened the defense industry’s sense of how fast things need to move.
• The next phase of airpower is about connecting air, space, land, and sea so they work as one.

Why This Conversation Matters

It’s easy to talk about rebuilding American manufacturing. It’s another thing to hear from the person running the factory floor about what scale actually demands. OJ’s view is shaped by his years flying the F-22, so the conversation keeps coming back to the people at the other end of the production line: pilots, maintainers, and the families they come home to. His line says it best: “Our adversaries, they don’t fear PowerPoint. They fear our production lines.”

About the Guests

Orlando “OJ” Sanchez, Jr. is President of Aeronautics at Lockheed Martin. He flew the F-22 in the U.S. Air Force and came up through Skunk Works before taking over the Aeronautics business.