Aeronutronic was a defense related division of Ford Aerospace, owned by

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

, and based in

Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

, Orange County,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The Engineering and Research Center campus was located on Jamboree Road at Ford Road, overlooking Balboa Bay and the Santa Catalina Strait of the Pacific Ocean in Newport Beach.Los Angeles Times.com: "Ford Aerospace Treated for Years Like a Stepchild : Defense: The auto maker has announced plans to sell its Newport Beach-based unit. But critics say the firm was abandoned long ago."
14 January 1990. Newport Beach.gov: Aeronutronic Ford (Planned Community) District
by Planning Division Staff, Community Development Department; 18 December 2013. The facility's master plan and main buildings were designed by

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

architect

William Pereira William Leonard Pereira (April 25, 1909 – November 13, 1985) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, who was noted for his Futurist architecture#Post-modern futurism, futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamer ...

in 1958.

History

The company was established in 1956 as Aeronutronic Systems, Inc. The company provided major support for the development of

Project Space Track (1957-1961) Project Space Track was a research and development project of the US Air Force, to create a tracking system for all artificial satellites of the Earth and space probes, domestic and foreign. Project Space Track was started in 1957 at the Air Fo ...

Philco Aeronutronic

In 1961, Ford purchased

Philco Philco (an acronym for Philadelphia Battery Company) is an American electronics industry, electronics manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia. Philco was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. In 1961, the company was purchase ...

and merged the two companies into Philco Aeronutronic in 1963. It became

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

's primary communications equipment vendor during the 1960s, also building the consoles in the

Manned Spacecraft Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight in Houston, Texas (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in ...

in Houston. Its Space Systems division in Palo Alto built satellites, ground stations, and sophisticated tracking and control systems for the military. In 1988, the unit received a contract to build the next generation of

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly Intel-Sat, Intelsat) is a Luxembourgish-American multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons, Virginia, United States. Originally formed ...

communications satellites. In 1978, Ford received its first contract for a prototype of an Army air defense gun system, the Sergeant York Gun. After persistent technical problems and some $1.3 billion in development costs, in 1985 Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger canceled the program. Around 1,300 Aeronutronic workers were laid off as a result. Many portions of the Philco side of the company were sold off in the early 1970s. By 1975, all that was left was the original Aeronutronic divisions. These were renamed Ford Aerospace and Communications Corporation in December 1976, and then Ford Aerospace Corporation in January 1988.

Space Systems/Loral

In October 1990, Ford Aerospace and Aeronutronic defense plant were sold by Ford Motor Company to Loral to become Space Systems/Loral.Los Angeles Times.com: "Newport Plant Put in Limbo by Ford Sale : Defense industry: With the aerospace subsidiary under new ownership, the future of its Aeronutronic division in Orange County is up in the air." (July 24, 1990)
In 1996, the Loral Space & Communications defense electronics and system integration businesses were acquired by

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

. The Newport Beach plant was demolished, and rezoned for residential development.

Products

AGM-88 HARM The AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) is a tactical, air-to-surface anti-radiation missile designed to home in on electronic transmissions coming from surface-to-air radar systems. It was originally developed by Texas Instruments ...

(subcontractor) *

AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a short-range air-to-air missile. Entering service with the United States Navy in 1956 and the Air Force in 1964, the AIM-9 is one of the oldest, cheapest, and most successful air-to-air missiles. Its latest variants rema ...

* AN/AAS-38 (F/A-18 FLIR) * Have Dash *

LGM-118 Peacekeeper The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, originally known as the MX for "Missile, Experimental", was a Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle, MIRV-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced and deployed by the United States from 1986 ...

(subcontractor) *

LGM-30 Minuteman The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G (Version 3) is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and represents th ...

(subcontractor) *

MGM-51 Shillelagh The Aeronutronic, Ford MGM-51 ''Shillelagh'' was an American anti-tank guided missile designed to be launched from a conventional gun (cannon). It was originally intended to be the medium-range portion of a short, medium, and long-range system for ...

* MIM-72 Chaparral *

Pave Knife The Ford Aerospace AN/AVQ-10 Pave Knife was an early targeting pod developed by the USAF and US Navy to designate and guide laser-guided bombs. Pave Knife was developed in 1969 in aviation, 1969 to replace the original, essentially improvised Ai ...

* Pave Tack * UGM-73 Poseidon (subcontractor) *

Trident (missile) The Trident missile is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV). Originally developed by Lockheed Missiles and Space Corporation, the missile is armed with thermonucle ...

(subcontractor)

References

External links

University of California Irvine Library, Online Archives: "Aerial view of Ford Aeronutronics Plant in 1960" Flickr.com: "Aerial view of Ford Ford Aerospace & Communications & Newport Beach c.1983
{{Clear Ford Motor Company Aerospace companies of the United States Former defense companies of the United States Technology companies based in Greater Los Angeles Companies based in Newport Beach, California Loral Space & Communications Manufacturing companies established in 1956 Technology companies established in 1956 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1990 Technology companies disestablished in 1990 1956 establishments in California 1990 disestablishments in California Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Buildings and structures in Newport Beach, California Buildings and structures completed in 1958 Demolished buildings and structures in California William Pereira buildings Defunct manufacturing companies based in California