Lockheed Martin [LMT] on Wednesday said it is expanding an existing relationship with Microsoft [MSFT] to advance the defense company’s vision for 21
st Century Security by joining the technology giant’s newest secure cloud framework and establishing a two-year research and development partnership to advance artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), and modeling and simulation capabilities for the Defense Department.
Lockheed Martin is the first non-government entity to operate independently inside the Microsoft Azure Government Secret cloud following a year-long pilot. The two companies are working on developing classified and unclassified cloud environments that are expected to be operating in 2023.
In addition to the secure cloud, AI/ML and modeling and simulation efforts, the two companies are also expanding their existing collaboration on 5G.MIL programs, which are aimed at bringing fifth-generation wireless capabilities to the tactical edge. Lockheed Martin will also leverage Microsoft Azure for its own digital transformation across the enterprise.
For the modeling and simulation work, the companies will build on Microsoft’s advance gaming and exercising and emulation solutions to test military platforms and technologies used in joint all-domain operations on a digital platform. In the area of 5G.MIL, the companies will also work on space domain connectivity for austere environment where there is little infrastructure.
Lockheed Martin has dubbed its business and digital transformation 1LMX, with Azure as its foundation. The goal of 1LMX is to enhance “the company’s speed, agility, insights and competitiveness as it delivers the next generation of DoD systems,” Lockheed Martin said.