Aeropedia
Hughes Aircraft Company
Hughes Aircraft Company logo, during most of the company's first 50 years
Hughes Aircraft Company logo, during most of the company's first 50 years
Some attributes
First Type: Public
Second Industry: Aerospace and defense (Defense and Communications Electronics)
Third Founder(s) and Founded in: Howard Hughes, Glendale, CA, 1932
Other attributes

The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded in 1932 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California as a division of Hughes Tool Company. The company was known for producing, among other products, the Hughes H-4 Hercules Spruce Goose aircraft, the atmospheric entry probe carried by the Galileo spacecraft, and the AIM-4 Falcon guided missile.

Hughes Aircraft was acquired by General Motors from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 1985 and was put under the umbrella of Hughes Electronics, now known as DirecTV, until GM sold its assets to Raytheon in 1997.