Industrial interest in wrought heat-treatable aluminium-lithium (Al–Li) based alloys dates back to around 1919 in Germany. However the exploitation of these alloys has historically been limited by their mechanical property anisotropy and concerns over their localized corrosion resistance and temperature stability. Recently, in the last ten years, alloy and process development has resulted in alloy compositions and thermomechanical treatments that potentially can overcome these issues. To put these developments in perspective we have reviewed the corrosion characteristics of first, second and third generation alloys with an emphasis on localized corrosion (intergranular and exfoliation) and stress corrosion cracking (SCC). Intergranular corrosion susceptibility of Al–Li–Cu and Al–Li–Cu–Mg alloys increases with copper content, and the depth of attack increases with ageing, i.e. UAPA~30 mm) further analysis of corrosion test results is required.