Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and the Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) of the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) have completed the first-ever live F-35 classified data share with a non-US command-and-control (C2) system, Lockheed Martin announced on 4 December 2024.
The effort, dubbed Project Deimos, involved a real-time, live-fly demonstration in which an F-35 Lightning II fighter flying from Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas, shared classified data via a Skunk Works open systems gateway (OSG) using commercial satellite communications and into an RAF RCO lab in Farnborough, southern England, where it was ingested into RAF’s Nexus combat cloud.
Lockheed Martin noted that the demonstration “marks a significant step forward in multi-domain integration, enabling F-35 interoperability in real time with a non-US C2 system”.
RCO head Air Commodore Chris Melville said of the event, “Project Deimos was a hugely successful UK /US trial which clearly demonstrated the ability to take data from a live F-35 and pass this to the RAF’s Nexus platform for exploitation. This represents a key step forward towards both a future integrated battlespace and air command and control environment. The RAF Rapid Capabilities Office, working in partnership with both Lockheed Martin and SiXWorks, has proven how collaborative working with key industry partners can quickly and efficiently drive both innovation and future capability. We are all delighted with the results.”
Skunk Works vice president and general manager John Clark added, “This exercise marks a breakthrough in multi-domain operations, demonstrating the F-35’s ability to share classified data via an open systems gateway with our international partners. We collaborated closely with the UK Ministry of Defence and industry to achieve this feat, highlighting the power of partnership in driving innovation. Collaborations like this allow us to deliver advanced capabilities quickly to meet urgent needs in an increasingly complicated global threat environment.”
