# Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and Dutch NLR broaden their strategic partnership

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/stories/lockheed-martin-skunk-works-and-dutch-nlr-broaden-their-strategic-5deeee26
Date: 15 Oct 2026
About: [Lockheed Martin](https://technooptimist.io/companies/lockheed-martin.md)
Original source: https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2026-10-15-Skunk-Works-and-the-Royal-Netherlands-Aerospace-Centre-Expand-Strategic-Collaboration

Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works and the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) announced a broader strategic partnership on October 15, 2026, at NL-US Defense Industry Days. It expands an exploratory memorandum of understanding signed two years earlier, aiming to move research into operational solutions that support the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The partners say joint frameworks and working groups have helped bridge their different organisational cultures.

## Key facts

- The one project named is thermoplastics, a technology the two are developing together.
- Four pillars: linking the Dutch industrial base to the international supply chain, joint military operational analysis, aligned technology roadmaps, and unmanned aerial systems.
- The signatories were NLR CEO Tineke van der Veen and Ron Fehlen, vice president and general manager of Skunk Works.
- The announcement gives no contract values, quantities or delivery dates.

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