Ford Aerospace was the aerospace and defense division of Ford Motor Company. It was based in Newport Beach, Orange County, California, and was active from 1956 through 1990, when it was sold to the Loral Corporation.
The company was established in 1956. It was renamed to Ford Aerospace and Communications Corporation in 1976, and then to Ford Aerospace Corporation in 1988.
The 99 acres (40 ha) Engineering and Research Center campus was located on Jamboree Road at Ford Road, overlooking the Santa Catalina Strait of the Pacific Ocean in Newport Beach.[1][2] The facility’s master plan and main buildings were designed by Modernist architect William Pereira in 1958.[3] The operation was moved to Newport Beach in 1960.[4]
A partial company timeline includes:
- 1956 Aeronutronic becomes a Ford Motor Company division.
- 1961 Ford Motor Company acquires Philco Corporation, later named Philco-Ford Corporation.
- 1963 Ford Motor Company folds Aeronutronic into Philco, strengthening Ford Motor Company’s overall participation in space and defense markets.
- 1975 Philco-Ford becomes Aeronutronic Ford Corporation
- 1976 Aeronutronic Ford Corporation becomes Ford Aerospace & Communications Corporation.
- 1981 FACC starts a new sister division to Aeroneutronics in Southern California named DIVAD (Division Air Defense) for the production of the M247 Sgt. York armor tracked vehicle (named in honor of legendary World War I sharpshooter and medal of honor recipient Sergeant Alvin York) which incorporated F-16 search-and-track radar directed twin 40 mm Bofors gun systems in Newport Beach and Lake Forest, CA. David division dissolved in 1984 when Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger canceled the production contract and all existing Sgt. York units were dismantled for scrap. (D.V. Barker)
- 1988 Ford Aerospace San Jose CA location working on NATO Airbase SATCOM (NABS) Skynet control facilities
- 1990 Ford Aerospace sold to Loral Corporation. The sale did not include the lease of land for the Newport Beach plant that the buyer was required to vacate within five years.[4]
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