Lockheed Martin and Red Hat have announced a collaboration to advance artificial intelligence (AI) innovation at the edge on Lockheed Martin military platforms. Adopting the newly announced Red Hat Device Edge will enable Lockheed Martin to support U.S. national security missions by applying and standardizing AI technologies in geographically constrained environments.

With Red Hat Device Edge, the companies are equipping U.S. military platforms, such as the Stalker unmanned aerial system (UAS), with advanced software that was previously too large and complex for these systems. This advanced software enables small platforms to handle large AI workloads, increasing their capability in the field and driving faster, data-backed decision making.

In a recent demonstration, Lockheed Martin used Red Hat Device Edge on a Stalker UAS to demonstrate how AI-enhanced sensing can advance Joint All-Domain Operations. The Stalker used onboard sensors and AI to adapt in real-time to a threat environment.

The Stalker was flying an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) mission to detect a simulated military target. Once the Stalker detected the target emitter, project engineers used Red Hat Device Edge to update the Stalker’s software in-flight.

The new software – now managed on platform by Red Hat Device Edge – enabled the Stalker to deploy updated AI-based computer vision capabilities, also known as automated target recognition capabilities. As a result, Stalker was able to more accurately classify the military target, providing more useful ISR data and enhancing the situational awareness of the threat environment for U.S. military decision-makers.