F-22, F-35 and XQ-58A flew together for the first time
During a series of tests over the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground on Dec. 9, the Pentagon was able to demonstrate the effectiveness of its gatewayONE payload to let fifth generation fighters communicate with each other via their datalinks for the first time.
U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. James Cason
The F-22’s Intra-Flight Data Link (IFDL) and the F-35’s Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) are on different frequencies and software. By going through the gatewayONE, testers were able to establish a secure two-way translational data path between both platforms.
A XQ-58 Valkyrie was also fitted with the same payload but the hardware failed after take-off.
Overall, nine out of 18 test objectives were met.
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