Defense Unicorns, a provider of airgap-native technologies, and the US Air Force Sustainment Center (AFSC) Software Directorate have completed a demonstration enabling rapid software installation and upgrades on the F-22 Raptor aircraft.
The event marked the first time that software for the F-22 open mission system compute enclave was installed directly onto the aircraft within minutes.
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The demonstration showcased the use of Defense Unicorns’ Unicorn Delivery Service (UDS), which allows “approved software” to be deployed to open mission enclaves on military systems.
US Department of War (DoW) aircraft, including the F-22, are now demonstrating UDS. The technology’s modular structure and reliance on commercial standards provides an open compute environment owned by the government, allowing orchestration of both commercial and government software.
The demonstration supports a future scenario in which Air Force pilots and maintainers update aircraft software within an Open Mission Systems (OMS) computing environment.
As operational use expands, this approach is expected to allow new capabilities to be rapidly delivered across the fleet.
UDS facilitates loading of portable software payloads, enabling capabilities developed for one aircraft’s open compute environment such as the F-22 to be installed on other fourth, fifth, and sixth-generation aircraft with compatible systems.
Defense Unicorns co-founder and CEO Rob Slaughter said: “For decades, getting new software onto a fighter jet meant months of integration work and dependency on the OEM.
“With UDS, the F-22 can receive software updates in minutes, on demand, at the edge. Future wars will be won by whoever can adapt fastest. This demonstration proves the US Air Force is building that advantage now.”
The demonstration of UDS allows the Air Force to deliver and integrate software for F-22 onboard systems without reliance on external vendors. This effort operates alongside existing modernisation programmes managed by the original equipment manufacturer, with both approaches contributing to ongoing updates of the F-22’s operational capabilities.
