Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) Skunk Works and the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) completed an exercise, called Babel Fish, that expands on Project DEIMOS by adding ground-effector integration with the British Army. Project DEIMOS was a hugely successful U.K. / U.S. 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. A synthetic environment simulated data share between an F-35 into the UK MOD’s NEXUS Command and Control (C2) environment and was instantly routed to the British Army ground layer, which leveraged the targeting data from the F-35 to provide commander’s options for closing kill chains at speed.
Expands the F-35 data transfer capability from air to sovereign C2 only to include ground effectors, exercising Multi-Domain Operations with allied, non-U.S. systems.
Extends Project DEIMOS—which validated F-35 to NEXUS data share—by adding the crucial ground link, a key step toward an integrated allied battlespace.
Proves the power of Skunk Works open systems technologies architecture, enabling seamless, rapid integration of F-35 data with international partner C2 environments and land-based weapons.
“Our open systems technology serves as the connective tissue that allows the F‑35 to communicate with partner C2 networks and interface with ground assets. This ready‑now capability accelerates coalition Multi‑Domain Operations and reinforces our commitment to interoperability for allied sovereign systems.” said OJ Sanchez, vice president and general manager, Skunk Works
“The Babel Fish exercise was critical in proving that our ground effectors can directly utilise targeting data from the F‑35. This capability magnifies the value provided by F‑35 and enables us to leverage existing systems to deliver operational advantage today.” —said Wing Commander Phillip Harrild, Royal Air Force Military Strategic Headquarters Integrated Air and Missile Defence Directorate
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works is committed to delivering open architecture solutions that enhance multi-domain integration capabilities across allied forces. Skunk Works is an official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs (ADP), the company’s tactical research and development arm. It is responsible for a number of aircraft designs, highly classified development programs, and exotic aircraft platforms. Although locations for this group are typically classified, publicly-known locations have been reported on United States Air Force manufacturing bases Plant 42 (Palmdale), Plant 4 (Fort Worth), and Plant 6 (Marietta). The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American defense and aerospace manufacturer. It is headquartered in North Bethesda, Maryland, United States. The company was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995.
