Lockheed tests seven OMS payloads
Lockheed Martin has successfully flight-tested seven integrated Open Mission Systems (OMS) payloads within three months aboard a U-2 surveillance aircraft, the company announced on 22 July. This marks its sixth demonstration flight of the US Air Force OMS.
The demonstration focused on dynamic weapon retargeting, communications relay capabilities and methodology. The U-2 was integrated with multiple radios and waveforms and acted as a communication gateway between F-18s, a Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) surrogate platform and an F-22 aircraft.
In addition, fighter jet data and data from the U-2 on-board ISR and EW systems were relayed to the common mission control centre and a Rover ground terminal. This enabled the LRASM to be retargeted mid-flight.
The flight test is part of a test series to demonstrate the open-architecture approach of Lockheed Martin combined with the air force's OMS standards. No subsystem or system resets were needed during the flight. The successful test marks a major step towards risk reduction for future OMS standard system-of-systems hardware and software.
John Clark, director of advanced development programs, Lockheed Martin, said: 'This demonstration focused on communications relay capabilities and dynamic weapon retargeting within an OMS integration methodology.
'This demonstration showed our ability to integrate mission capability rapidly and affordably while highlighting how the OMS standard provides the air force a mechanism to own the technical baseline for their future systems.'
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