Lockheed Martin has entrusted Skunk Works to OJ Sanchez and the Integrated Fighter Group to Mike Shoemaker. Career paths, logic, and impacts of a strategic choice.
In Summary
On January 13, 2025, Lockheed Martin made a double strategic appointment within its Aeronautics division. Orlando “OJ” Sanchez took the helm of Skunk Works, while Mike Shoemaker succeeded him as head of the Integrated Fighter Group, which notably encompasses the F-16 and F-22 activities. Behind this executive rotation lay a precise rationale. Sanchez, a former F-22 pilot and experienced executive of Lockheed Martin’s combat programs, was tasked with bringing Skunk Works’ advanced programs closer to operational realities. Shoemaker, a former commander of U.S. naval aviation and head of F-35 customer relations, brought strong experience in operations, alliances, and international programs. The choice of Sanchez has since proven particularly significant: after roughly seventeen months at Skunk Works, he was promoted to President of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics on June 1, 2026.
The Dual Appointment Responded to a Deep Transformation in Air Combat
Lockheed Martin’s announcement on January 13, 2025, might initially have seemed like a routine internal rotation. Yet it went far beyond that.
OJ Sanchez succeeded John Clark as Vice President and General Manager of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. Clark then transitioned to a cross-functional role as Senior Vice President for Technology and Strategic Innovation. Mike Shoemaker simultaneously took over the position vacated by Sanchez at the head of the Integrated Fighter Group.
The two organizations occupy very different positions within Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
Skunk Works, officially Advanced Development Programs, works on advanced technologies, demonstrators, and a large share of the company’s classified military programs. Its history is tied to the U-2, SR-71 Blackbird, F-117 Nighthawk, and the initial development of the X-35, which ultimately gave birth to the F-35.
The Integrated Fighter Group, or IFG, focuses more on managing existing operational programs. It specifically oversees the development, production, modernization, and support of the F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-22 Raptor, while also participating in several international partnerships such as the T-50, KF-21, F-21, or the Japanese F-2.
Lockheed Martin was thus clearly separating two missions. Sanchez was assigned the exploration of the future. Shoemaker was tasked with the exploitation and modernization of an already massive air combat industrial base.
This decision also came at a time when U.S. military aviation was shifting paradigms. The future no longer rests solely on a new, higher-performing fighter. It relies on architectures combining crewed aircraft, combat drones, distributed sensors, artificial intelligence, secure communications, and interconnected command systems.
It is precisely at this frontier that Skunk Works must position itself today.
OJ Sanchez’s Career Path Explains His Arrival at Skunk Works
The F-22 Pilot Became a Specialist in Complex Programs
Orlando Sanchez Jr. possesses an unusual background among U.S. defense industry executives.
Graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a degree in economics in 1993, he also holds a Master of Science in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and an MBA from the Naval Postgraduate School. He also studied at the NATO Defense College in Rome.
However, his key defining characteristic is operational.
Sanchez served as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, accumulating more than 2,100 flight hours, primarily in the F-15C and F-22. He was directly involved in the operational ramp-up of the Raptor. He led the team responsible for the initial operational evaluations of the F-22 and played a key role in the U.S. Air Force’s declaration of its initial operational capability in 2005.
He subsequently held several command responsibilities, notably as commander of the 90th Fighter Squadron.
This experience is significant. Sanchez did not merely observe the transition toward fifth-generation aircraft from a staff headquarters; he experienced it from the cockpit, and later within the structures responsible for turning experimental technology into usable military capability.
He joined Lockheed Martin in 2014.
There, he held positions in operational support, the F-35 program, and then the F-22, where he became Vice President and General Manager. In 2021, he took leadership of the Integrated Fighter Group.
During that time, he supervised a critical period for the F-16. Lockheed Martin restarted new production of the F-16 Block 70/72 at its Greenville site in South Carolina for international customers including Bahrain, Slovakia, and Bulgaria.
By early 2025, Lockheed Martin was still reporting a backlog of 117 F-16 Block 70/72 aircraft following 23 deliveries.
Sanchez’s transition to Skunk Works thus appeared logical. He simultaneously understands the military user, combat engineering, manufacturing, sustainment, and program management.
For advanced programs, this combination is more relevant than an exclusively technical profile.
Sanchez’s Mandate Was to Reconnect Innovation with Operational Need
The challenge for Skunk Works is no longer simply inventing a spectacular aircraft.
The challenge is to rapidly develop a capability that can be produced, connected to other systems, and funded in sufficient quantities.
That is a fundamental difference.
Future combat systems must communicate with satellites, airborne early warning aircraft, radars, ground units, and autonomous drones. They must also be capable of rapidly integrating new applications, new algorithms, or new sensors.
Under Sanchez, this focus translated into several programs.
In September 2025, Skunk Works unveiled Vectis, a Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) concept. This is an uncrewed combat aircraft designed to operate alongside crewed fighters while combining stealth, autonomy, open architecture, and affordable cost.
Lockheed Martin currently projects a first flight for the demonstrator in 2027. Vectis is expected to use a Williams International FJ44-4 turbofan engine delivering over 16 kN of thrust, or 3,600 pounds-force.
In parallel, Skunk Works has been working on onboard artificial intelligence. In 2026, its teams utilized the X-62A VISTA to execute AI-controlled aerial interceptions driven by real sensor data. Eight flights enabled 27 AI-controlled intercepts to be performed.
The stakes go beyond autopilot. The objective is to close the loop between detection, decision, and action without permanently requiring direct pilot intervention.
This represents one of the core technologies for the future of air combat.
Yet the Tenure at Skunk Works Was Not Without Setbacks
The Sanchez period must also be examined without complacency.
In March 2025, the Pentagon awarded Boeing the contract to develop the future F-47 fighter under the Next Generation Air Dominance program. Lockheed Martin was among the competitors.
The loss of the NGAD represents a major strategic setback. The F-47 is intended to succeed the F-22 and could shape the top tier of American air combat for several decades.
The initial Engineering and Manufacturing Development contract exceeds $20 billion, but the program’s potential value spans tens, if not hundreds, of billions over its lifecycle.
For Skunk Works, losing the program tasked with defining America’s next air superiority fighter is far from trivial.
However, this does not mean marginalization.
Lockheed Martin retains the F-35, the modernization of the F-22, several classified programs, and major competencies in autonomy, mission systems, artificial intelligence, and distributed architectures.
The strategy now appears more directed toward a family of interconnected capabilities rather than the sole pursuit of a new crewed aircraft program.
This shift even reinforces the historical importance of Skunk Works as Lockheed Martin’s technological laboratory.
Mike Shoemaker’s Background Matches the Needs of the Integrated Fighter Group
The Former “Air Boss” Knows Operations on an Exceptional Scale
Mike Shoemaker presents a different profile.
Graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1982 with a degree in Systems Engineering, he became a Naval Aviator in 1984.
His military career spanned 35 years.
He primarily flew the A-7E Corsair and later the F/A-18 Hornet, logging more than 4,400 flight hours and 1,066 aircraft carrier landings.
His career quickly expanded beyond that of a operational pilot.
Shoemaker commanded VFA-105, VFA-106, Carrier Air Wing 17, and two carrier strike groups. He subsequently became Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic, and in 2015, Commander, Naval Air Forces.
This last role, known as “Air Boss,” placed him at the top of U.S. naval aviation. He was responsible for the operational readiness of all U.S. Navy naval aviation forces and aircraft carriers.
He retired from the Navy in 2018 and joined Lockheed Martin.
Before taking over the Integrated Fighter Group, Shoemaker served for approximately three years as head of F-35 Customer Programs. He was responsible for the strategy regarding relations with the U.S. armed forces, F-35 partner nations, and Foreign Military Sales customers.
This experience was crucial.
Lockheed Martin’s business is no longer merely manufacturing aircraft. For international programs like the F-35 or F-16, one must simultaneously manage governments, air forces, industrial transfers, delivery schedules, infrastructure, training, maintenance, and political cooperation.
Shoemaker understands this machinery.
Shoemaker’s Appointment Secures a Still Highly Profitable Portfolio
The Integrated Fighter Group might seem less prestigious than Skunk Works. Yet it constitutes a strategic business line.
The F-16 remains one of the most widely deployed Western fighters in the world.
In April 2026, Lockheed Martin indicated that over 2,800 F-16s were still in service. Peru had just selected 12 new F-16 Block 70 aircraft, joining 29 other user nations.
New orders represent only a portion of the program’s economics.
Hundreds of existing F-16s require modernization. The F-16V configuration introduces the AN/APG-83 AESA radar, new mission computers, updated avionics, and a modernized cockpit.
Poland, for example, decided to upgrade its F-16 Block 52+ fleet to the Viper standard.
Shoemaker must therefore manage new production, existing fleet upgrades, and global sustainment for a particularly large active inventory simultaneously.
The F-22 presents a different equation.
Its production has ended and it is not exported. However, the U.S. Air Force continues to invest heavily to maintain its tactical edge until its successor arrives.
The U.S. budget for Fiscal Year 2025 allocated approximately $1.63 billion for research, development, procurement, and modifications related to the F-22. Lockheed Martin was also awarded a $270 million contract in early 2025 to integrate new IRDS defensive infrared sensors onto the Raptor.
The Integrated Fighter Group must thus skillfully sustain two distinct architectures: an F-16 produced and exported in large numbers, and a rare, technologically essential F-22.
The Complementarity Between Sanchez and Shoemaker Was the Real Message
The dual appointment of January 2025 primarily highlights how Lockheed Martin now envisions air combat.
It is becoming increasingly irrelevant to strictly separate aircraft generations, drones, sensors, communications, and command systems.
The F-22 can receive new sensors and open architectures. The F-16 can be networked with F-35-equipped forces. The F-35 can transmit data to other platforms. Autonomous drones can accompany crewed fighters.
Skunk Works must invent some of these building blocks.
The Integrated Fighter Group must enable existing platforms to exploit them.
Sanchez and Shoemaker were thus called upon to work at two ends of the same combat architecture.
This is likely the most compelling reason for their selection.
Lockheed Martin was not simply looking for two good managers. The group wanted two leaders from the operational world capable of understanding why a technology exists and how it will actually be employed by military forces.
Sanchez’s Promotion in 2026 Adds Another Dimension to This Appointment
With hindsight, the move in January 2025 takes on added significance.
On June 1, 2026, OJ Sanchez became President of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics following the retirement of Greg Ulmer.
He now oversees a business generating over $30 billion in annual revenue and employing more than 35,000 people.
Aeronautics sales reached $30.26 billion in 2025, up from $28.62 billion in 2024. The division includes the F-35, F-16, F-22, C-130, and Skunk Works programs.
Sanchez’s tenure at Skunk Works turned out to be relatively brief, lasting about seventeen months.
It now appears to have been a preparatory stepping stone for far broader responsibility.
Ron Fehlen, previously Deputy General Manager of Skunk Works, succeeded him in June 2026. This internal continuity also allows Sanchez to maintain direct knowledge of advanced programs as he now supervises the entire aeronautics portfolio.
However, his task is demanding.
Aeronautics recorded an operating margin of 6.9% in 2025, compared to 8.8% in 2024. Lockheed Martin notably recognized a $950 million charge on a classified aeronautics program in 2025, following a $555 million charge on that program in 2024. The company does not publicly identify the program concerned. It would therefore be speculative to assert that it falls directly under Skunk Works.
These losses nevertheless serve as an important reminder: in advanced military programs, innovation without cost control rapidly destroys value.
Sanchez will now have to manage that exact equation.
The True Test Will Be Turning Technological Leadership into Programs
Lockheed Martin still holds an exceptional position in Western air combat.
The F-35 anchors a major portion of the combat aviation of the United States and its allies. The F-16 continues to find new customers. The F-22 remains a technological benchmark. Skunk Works retains unique expertise in stealth, mission architectures, autonomy, and classified programs.
However, the company lost the F-47 to Boeing.
This increases the pressure on the rest of the portfolio.
Sanchez’s challenge, now leading Aeronautics, will be to turn technologies developed by Skunk Works into affordable, producible military capabilities. Shoemaker’s challenge will be to keep the F-16 and F-22 relevant in an environment where air combat is increasingly becoming a battle of networks, sensors, and artificial intelligences as much as an engagement between aircraft.
The dual appointment of January 2025 thus appears less like an administrative reorganization and more like the preparation for a major transition.
Lockheed Martin already has the aircraft. The battle now centers on the architecture that will connect them.
War Wings Daily is an independant magazine.