UK MoD and LM Skunk Works Demo Ready-Now Interoperability

April 30, 2026

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.

What happened

• 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.

“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.” — Wing Commander Phillip Harrild, Royal Air Force Military Strategic Headquarters Integrated Air and Missile Defence Directorate

Why it matters

• 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.”

— OJ Sanchez, vice president and general manager, Skunk Works

Source : Lockheed Martin Corporation