James Taiclet will become president and chief executive officer of aerospace and defense titan Lockheed Martin, of Bethesda, Md., effective June 15. He will succeed Marillyn Hewson, who has led the company since 2013, according to a Monday press release.
Taiclet, who came up in the defense industry through Pratt & Whitney and was later president of Honeywell Aerospace, has been on Lockheed’s Board of Directors since 2018. He is currently president of American Tower Corp., a real-estate developer and communications infrastructure provider headquartered in Boston.
Hewson will become executive chair of Lockheed’s board, subject to her re-election.
Lockheed has its fingerprints all over the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The company developed the Trident II D5 ballistic missiles used aboard nuclear-armed U.S. submarines; is part of the effort to develop the aeroshell for the planned W93 sea-launched ballistic-missile warhead; and is a member of the Northrop Grumman-led team that looks set this year to win a $25-billion Air Force contract to build the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent: the next-generation, nuclear-tipped, land-based intercontinental ballistic missile that will replace Minuteman III fleet starting around 2030.
Lockheed also built the F-35 fighter jet, versions of which the Air Force plans to certified later this decade to carry a pair of B61-12 nuclear gravity bombs.
Also on June 15, Lockheed Executive Vice President Frank St. John will become chief operating officer. He will be succeeded as EVP for Lockheed Rotary and Mission Systems by Stephanie Hill, currently senior vice president for enterprise business transformation.
