Getting software systems from two defense contractors talking to each other may sound like a small step. But a new collaboration integrating Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® MDCX™ autonomy with the XTEND Operating System (XOS) has big implications.
“This setup bridges the gap between the larger and smaller classes of UAS, from a class 3+ UAV down to small quadcopters,” Michael Godknect, Software Engineering Senior Manager at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, told me.
The setup means one operator can now control a range of drones from the largest to the smallest, switching seamlessly between them. In a demonstration in November, an operator piloted a carrier drone which launched a small drone, then flew the small drone from the same control unit.
This capability enables drone carriers to deliver squadrons of attack drones to remote locations – and that is just for starters.
Big Joins To Small
The partnership sees Lockheed Martin, the largest defense contractor in the world, partnering with XTEND, a startup dating from 2018 and considered one of the most advanced in drone technology whose products have been deployed extensively by the IDF.
In the simulated mission in November, a drone in the category of a Lockheed Martin Stalker UAS, delivered two of XTEND’s XTENDER UAS class 1 drones for a close-in mission.
On the Lockheed Martin side is MDCX (Multi-Domain Combat System) is an open-architecture software platform enabling a single operator to control diverse uncrewed systems in the air, at sea, and on land.
“We [Lockheed Martin Skunk Works®] have been doing uncrewed command and control for decades and have a strong lineage in that area,” George Hellstern, Lockheed Martin Senior Technology Fellow for Autonomy and AI Mission Systems told me.
On the XTEND side, the small drones are handled by XOS, a system used by the IDF for complex, multi-drone missions in urban spaces.
“Our system handles the tip, of the mission, where things get complicated,” says XTEND CEO Aviv Shapira. “Where you need a system for getting through a narrow space, or breeching a door, this is where things are handed over to XOS.”
Latency, the time lag between the drone and the operator, normally makes maneuvering in tight spaces very challenging. XOS changes that by piloting the drone itself. The same software handle attacks, so even an unskilled operator can hit fast-evading targets.
Solving the latency issue also means that drones can be controlled from anywhere. While it is routine for Reaper drones in the Middle East to be operated from Creech Air Force base in Nevada, adding XOS to the mix means a Reaper operator could launch and control a smaller drone. They could even send it seek and strike inside a building, a new Pentagon capability enabled by XTEND.
Both companies have discovered it is important to have a single control system. MDCX controls a diverse range of larger drones like the MQ-25 Stingray and MQ-20 Avenger uncrewed jets as well as Lockheed Martin’s own Stalker reconnaissance drone and Indago 2 multicopter.
At the other end of the scale, XTEND has tackled the problem of small drone controller proliferation.
“At the start of the last war [7th October 2023] the IDF had many types of drone – some units were using ten different types of controller. We were brought in to get everyone using a single controller for all sorts of drone,” says Shapira.
Complex Hardware Needs Smart Software
Ukraine has seen the first combat use of drone carriers, uncrewed motherships which transport small FPVs to carry out attacks, either under operator control or autonomously once an operator has selected targets. These are relatively crude “Version 1.0” systems, typically carrying 2 to 4 FPVs.
Elsewhere there are more ambitious plans like China’s new Jiu Tian, a giant mothership drone able to carry 100 small drones. But without the software to provide simple, reliable and robust control, even the most impressive hardware will be virtually useless.
“How complex it is to operate a huge factor in the future of combat,” says Shapira.
Tackling enemy drones is another major application. Videos show Ukrainian F-16s shooting down Russian Shahed drones with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles costing around half a million dollars each. The same drones can be taken out with small interceptor drones costing less than $5k apiece. XOS is already used for interceptor drones. An aircraft carrying dozens of interceptors, effectively miniature air-to-air missiles, could take out far more Shaheds at a fraction of the cost. This would only be possible with the right control software to integrate the interceptors with the launch polatform, crewed or uncrewed.
The carrier drone concept has many other applications, from dropping ambush drones to create smart, self-organizing minefields, to placing jamming and communication relays. An attack aircraft could also, for example, send reconnaissance drones ahead to confirm a target or designate it with a laser, or deploy expendable drones to take out air defenses and clear the way
Other possibilities involving ground and sea drones are only limited by the imagination. Ukraine already has tracked robot FPV carriers and well as seagoing drone carriers, while China has demonstrated a multicopter dropping off an armed robot dog. Software integration could turn these concepts from clumsy work-arounds requiring multiple control systems and incompatible software into efficient fighting systems which can be used at scale.
Bringing Drones Into The AI Era
The integration is not just about enabling specific missions. Rather the idea is to incorporate any and all useful software as it appears. This is particularly applicable to areas like mission planning, where developments in AI promise to react to changing situations, rapidly absorb new information and formulate complex plans faster than any human.
“New capabilities like AI-enabled mission planning could be plugged in thanks to MDCX’s flexible, modular architecture,” says Hellstern.
XOS also has modular architecture. The autonomous pilot for a particular task is made up of building block capabilities such judging movement from motion. Joining everything together means that everyone can benefit from all of the capabilities.
“MDCX is a very mature system that has been developed as an ecosystem, using not just Lockheed Martin’s capabilities but third parties’ as well,” says Godknect.
In 2024 Elon Musk ignited a row by saying that “idiots” were building F-35s in the age of swarms of small drones. The F-35 Lightning II is of course a Lockheed Martin aircraft. What Musk might not have guessed was that rather competing, the makers would integrate drone swarms into their portfolio of capabilities.