Gross developed the popular World War II military pursuit plane named the Lightning in the U.S. and the Hudson in Britain. Gross’ Lockheed accounted for 6% of U.S. airplane production during World War II building 19,000 planes and employing a peak of 94,000 employees in 1943. During the Korean War, Lockheed emerged as the biggest defense company in the nation due to demand for its Shooting Star fighters and Constellation transports.