Hughes Electronics Corporation Records (MS-00485)

Howard Hughes formed Hughes Aircraft as a division of Hughes Tool Company in 1932. During World War II, Hughes Aircraft obtained defense contracts to develop high speed pursuit and reconnaissance aircraft as well as radar and communication systems. The most famous of these prototypes was the H-4 Hercules, better known as the Spruce Goose that only flew one time in 1947. In that same year, Hughes Aircraft formally renamed the Radio Department the Electronics Department.

In 1953, Hughes Aircraft Company was incorporated as a separate business entity with sole ownership held by the newly founded Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Although Howard Hughes remained the titular president of Hughes Aircraft company, in 1954 Lawrence A. “Pat” Hyland, Vice-President and General Manager, took control of the company. Under Hyland's direction, Hughes Aircraft established itself as a leader in avionics, radar, guided missiles, and missile and weapons guidance systems.

Some major weapon systems developed by Hughes Electronics during this period were the Falcon missile system (air-to-air missile), the Tube-launched, Optically-sighted, Wire-Guided (TOW) missile, and the Maverick (air-to-ground) missile. The launch of the Syncom series of satellites between 1961 and 1964 is notable in the development of geosynchronous communication satellites. The five Surveyor Series space probes (1966-1968) that were sent to the moon to photograph the lunar surface and analyzed soil prior to the lunar landing are a significant example of Hughes engineering capabilities during this period.

After Howard Hughes' death in 1976, Hyland became the company's president and CEO. In 1977, the management team consisted of Pat Hyland (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer), Allen Puckett (President), and John Richardson (Executive Vice-President). In 1979, Hyland retired from the Chairmanship. Puckett then assumed the Chairmanship and Richardson was named president of Hughes Aircraft Company.

In 1985, Hughes Aircraft was sold to General Motors. Following the purchase, General Motors merged its Delco Electronics Unit with Hughes Aircraft to create GM Hughes Electronics Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors. General Motors also put in place a new management team with Malcolm Currie as Chairman. GM Hughes Electronics Corporation became the focus of a federal investigation, "Operation Uncover," which resulted in the company having to pay a 3.7 million dollar fine for trafficking in classified Pentagon planning documents.

Hughes Electronics launched DirecTV in Jacksonville, Mississippi, in 1994 and later DirecTV Global was formed to oversee operations in Latin America and Japan. During this period GM Hughes Electronics changed its name to Hughes Electronics and it became the leading manufacturer of commercial satellites. It also entered into an agreement with PanAmSat to merge their satellite services with Hughes Electronics as the majority shareholder. Other notable projects during this period include the development of the Galileo Probe.

Michael T. Smith was named Chairman and CEO of Hughes Electronics Corporation in 1997. Following this change, various Hughes companies were realigned, reorganized, merged and spun-off. The Aerospace and Defense Division were merged with Raytheon. The Space and Communications division was sold to Boeing, and Hughes Helicopter was sold to McDonnell–Douglas. Hughes Electronics focused on consumer satellite services under DirecTV, DirectPC, and Spaceway, a broadband satellite system. General Motors, in a counter move, tried to sell Hughes Electronics to DirecTV's rival Echo Star, but the sale was blocked by federal regulators. However, in April 2003 Rupert Murdoch succeeded in acquiring Hughes Electronics, and renamed it DirecTV, which become a division of Fox Entertainment Group.

Sources:

Amir, Amir R. and Stanley I. Weiss, “Hughes Electronics Corporation,” Britannica.com, accessed January 24, 2018, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hughes-Electronics-Corporation#ref754190.

“C. Michael Armstrong 1938–,” Reference for Business, accessed January 24, 2018, http://www. Reference forbusiness.com/biography/A-E/Armstrong-C-Michael-1938.html.

Hughes Aircraft Company. The History, culture, and organization of the Hughes Aircraft Company. Culver City, CA: Carl Byoir & Associates, Inc., 1986.

Hughes Aircraft Company. Hughes Aircraft Company: What it is; What it does;. Culver City, CA: Carl Byoir & Associates, Inc., 1965.

Ostrow, Ronald J., “Hughes Chief Surfaces in Defense Investigation: Aerospace: The statute of limitations bars pursuit of Malcolm Currie, sources say, amid a sweeping probe of trafficking in classified Pentagon planning documents,” Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA), July 07, 1990, http://articles .latimes.com/1990-07-07/business/fi-270_1_hughes-aircraft.

“PanAmSat Corporation,” Company-Histories.com, accessed January 24, 2018,

http://www.company-histories.com/PanAmSat-Corporation-Company-History.html