Lockheed Martin Orincon

Lockheed Martin Orincon Corporation (originally ORINCON Corporation International) is a systems integration and information technology company that supports Lockheed Martin's position in the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) industry.

History

Orincon was established in 1973 in San Diego by University of California San Diego professors Dr. Daniel Alspach and Dr. Harold Sorenson, and UC Irvine professor Dr. Jim Meditch. Operations began in 1975 with three government contracts.

During the Cold War, Orincon helped design the SOSUS tracker system to follow the Soviet Ballistic Missile Submarine.

Convinced of the significance of SOSUS, Dr. Alspach wrote, "I see this as part of the chain that ended the Cold War. The SOSUS was so successful, that the Russians had to spend tremendous amounts of money trying to quiet their sub to avoid detection. At the same time, they spent a great deal trying to counter U.S. President Ronald Reagan's Star Wars technology. This, with the inherent inefficiencies of their socialistic economic system, broke the bank and led to the collapse of the Soviet Union."

Indeed, Soviet spies John Walker and Jerry Whitworth in the U.S. Navy revealed to the Russians that their submarines were noisy, and thus, easily detectable. This knowledge led to the development of "quieting" technology that Russia later sold to China.

In 1990, Orincon's primary business was antisubmarine warfare; however, the U.S. Navy deprioritized...
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