Can This Farm Boy Keep Lockheed In Orbit?

The education of Vance D. Coffman has been swift and thorough in recent years. Five years ago, he recalls that he still "felt a tug at the pit of my stomach" when dealing with Russian businessmen. The occasion: meeting at the posh Baltschug Kempinksi Hotel, across the river from the Kremlin, to develop a joint Russian-Lockheed rocket program. "Can we trust the people we're dealing with?" Coffman wondered.

A good question for a man who has spent much of his career in the shadowy world of classified military programs. These days, however, Coffman, the 53-year-old CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp. and successor to Norman R. Augustine, has long since gotten over such post-cold-war jitters. Now, the down-to-earth executive has bigger issues to ponder: He's redirecting the $30 billion maker of satellites, rockets, and jet fighters into a new array of commercial ventures. In five years, Coffman hopes 40% of earnings will come from the commercial side, up from less than 20% today.