USAF Fighter Jets, Experimental Drone Fly in Formation to Attempt Data Sharing on New Software

The U.S. Air Force attempted data sharing across a new platform Dec. 9 during the first formation flight of the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning and the Kratos Defense XQ-58A Valkyrie.

This formation flight was part of a demonstration to attempt data transmission between all three aircraft using a novel technology called "gatewayONE".

The F-22 and F-35A successfully shared data using the new technology, but the XQ-58A was unable to connect, according the a USAF release on Dec. 14. All aircraft were equipped with the gatewayONE communications payload, but shortly after takeoff the communications systems lost connectivity with the Valkyrie.

The demonstration flight had 18 test objectives planned and successfully completed nine, says the USAF.

GatewayONE demonstrated it can pass tracks or cues from ground operators to both fighters in the air and passed a cue from the F-35A to the F-22 for the first time. This information is displayed on the aircrafts' normal displays so replacements are not required.

This new communications system is art of the USAF's Advanced Battlefield Management System (ABMS) development program, an effort to create a military internet-like network that can quickly and autonomously pass information between entities across the battlefield. The military hopes that providing more information to its troops using artificial intelligence and automation will enable them to spot the enemy quicker and react faster.

“The future is promising, and gatewayONE will allow the F-22 and F-35 to connect to and feed data sources they’ve never before accessed,” says Lieutenant Colonel Eric Wright, a 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron F-35 pilot. “Those future connections will bring additional battlefield awareness into the cockpit and enable integrated fires across US forces.”

As they stand, the F-22 and F-35 most-secure communication systems cannot communicate directly to one another because they each use different data links, but this flight demonstrated gatewayONE can translate the data formats so information could be passed directly between both aircraft.

This alleviates many complex workarounds the Department of Defense has had to use with the fifth generation aircraft's communication systems during operations, and brings the ABMS program closer to its goal.

“Not only can gatewayONE translate between those formats, in this test it moved data that is normally relegated to an operations center or tactical ground node, directly pushing it into the cockpit at the edge of the multi-domain battlespace for the first time,” says the USAF. 

“Additionally, the test pushed the position data of each platform outside of the aircraft’s close-proximity formation through gatewayONE, which enables battle managers on the ground or in the air to better orchestrate operations.”

The XQ-58A Valkyrie, an unmanned aircraft, was rocket-launched in this formation flight as well and made a “semi-autonomous” flight alongside the F-22 and F-35 for the first time. While it did not accomplish the objectives set out by the program, it was a historic first flight for the experimental drone.