Update: Lockheed Martin, Pentagon establish bi-directional communications between fifth-generation aircraft, ground units

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and the Pentagon for the first time established bi-directional communications between fifth-generation aircraft in flight while also sharing operational and sensor data to ground forces during a recent test, according to a company statement on 3 May.

This flight test, named Project Hydra, linked a Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, five Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs), and a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor in the air and provided real-time fifth-generation data to operators on the ground. The flight test leveraged an Open Systems Gateway (OSG) payload aboard the U-2 to connect the F-22 to the five F-35As via the native Intra-Flight Data Link (IFDL) and the Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL). The target tracks were also transmitted by, and through, the U-2 into the fighter avionics and pilot displays, the statement added.

Conceptual artwork depicting a Joint All-Domain Operations (JADO) environment. Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and the Pentagon, for the first time, established bi-directional communications between fifth-generation aircraft in flight while also sharing operational and sensor data to ground forces during a recent test. (Lockheed Martin)

Lockheed Martin spokesperson Ananda Costa said on 6 May that this OSG can perform both data routing and translation. The payload provides message interoperability between heterogenous systems operating in multiple domains and incorporates technology based on open-architecture principles.

The payload receives important sensor and other system data from one platform over its native datalink. It translates and filters the data based on the level of classification and retransmits the information to other platforms using their different native datalinks.