Lockheed Martin, Microsoft announce landmark agreement on classified cloud, advanced technology for Department of Defense

Secure cloud, AI/ML and 5G.MIL^® solutions will unlock next-generation national security solutions

BETHESDA, Md., 16 November 2022 /PRNewswire/ —

The big picture

Lockheed Martin and Microsoft today announced a landmark expansion of their strategic relationship to help drive the next generation of technology for the Department of Defense (DOD).

The game-changing agreement will span four critical areas for DOD:

• Classified Cloud Innovations: Microsoft’s latest secure framework will make Lockheed Martin the first non-government entity to independently operate within the Microsoft Azure Government Secret cloud and usher in a new era of cloud opportunities for industry.
• Possibility of artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), modeling and simulation: Lockheed Martin and Microsoft have entered into a two-year collaborative research and development (R&D) program that will advance AI/ML and modeling and simulation capabilities for the DOD.
• 5G.MIL^® Programs: The R&D agreement also expands the companies’ existing collaboration to deliver advanced networks and secure 5G functions on the tactical edge.
• Digital transformation: Microsoft Azure will drive Lockheed Martin’s digital transformation journey, accelerating enterprise-wide productivity gains to deliver innovation at scale, improve choice and flexibility, and create the next generation of defense technologies.

Strategic perspectives

Yvonne HodgeSenior Vice President, Enterprise Business and Digital Transformation, and Chief Information Officer, Lockheed Martin:

“Through this historic agreement, Lockheed Martin and Microsoft are forging a new path in classified cloud, artificial intelligence and 5G.MIL^® capacities for the Ministry of Defence. We create faster, safer and more affordable 21st Century Security solutions that add immersive experiences and other advanced commercial technologies to the most capable defense systems. We are confident that this unmatched combination of capabilities will help keep our customers ahead of new threats and challenges.”

Jason ZanderExecutive Vice President, Strategic Missions and Technologies, Microsoft:

“Our national security leaders need an unassailable information advantage, which is why we’re bringing the power of the hyperscale cloud to accelerate their national security missions. Working with Lockheed Martin, we’re demonstrating how the defense industrial base can bring classified data into the cloud securely, while advanced 5G connectivity, critical computing and analytics, and immersive experiences to the edge to support decision making where it’s needed, when it’s needed. Lockheed Martin is a valued partner in this effort, and we will continue to innovate and explore the art of the possible to support national security.”

Additional background

Classified Cloud Innovations

Lockheed Martin is the first member of the defense industrial base to use Microsoft’s latest National Industrial Security Program (NISP) framework for air-gapped clouds following a year-long pilot. Work to develop the classified and unclassified cloud environments is already underway, with expectations that the project will be operational in 2023.

Microsoft’s first-of-its-kind technology will allow Lockheed Martin to dynamically scale IT requirements under authorized guidance and directly serve mission workloads in Azure Government Secret, including highly restricted special applications.

This allows Lockheed Martin to:

• Modernize the legacy, on-premises classified systems of owned and operated Azure Government Secret cloud tenants
• Empower cybersecurity reporting and compliance monitoring to near real-time.
• Quickly create authorized assignment workloads
• Improve the company’s IT and research and development capabilities
• Expand your company’s efficiency
• Autonomously hosted enterprise cloud administration, centralized collaboration and
• Provide governance on a large scale.

AI/ML, modeling and simulation

Through this agreement, Lockheed Martin will work with Microsoft to build on Microsoft’s advanced gaming, training, modeling and simulation (GEMS) and emulation solutions to bring military planning and coordination through immersive environments. Using GEMS technology, Lockheed Martin and its customers can test military platforms and technologies that drive joint all-domain operations on a digital platform. Such capabilities have the potential to cut costs for DOD and minimize risk to service members by providing a digital alternative for some military exercises.

5G.MIL programs

Using Microsoft Azure solutions and Lockheed Martin’s 5G.MIL technologies, the companies will continue to develop secure, resilient communications systems that are interoperable with and seamlessly connect to existing DOD networks. Key developments include a tactical 5G core, management and orchestration of applications and networks at scale, and cloud-based security. The companies will also promote space domain connectivity for austere, infrastructure-light environments.

Advancing Lockheed Martin’s digital transformation

With Azure as a foundation, Lockheed Martin will advance its business and digital transformation called 1LMX. By transforming its end-to-end business processes and systems, Lockheed Martin is creating a model-based enterprise with a fully integrated digital thread throughout the design, build and maintenance of the product lifecycle. 1LMX improves the company’s speed, agility, insight and competitiveness as it delivers the next generation of DOD systems. As part of this transformation, Lockheed Martin will become a multi-cloud environment in the unclassified space using Microsoft Azure as its cloud provider.

Lockheed Martin’s use of the Azure cloud will deliver unmatched protection across all devices, clouds, apps and platforms. Microsoft’s industry-leading cybersecurity leverages massive signal depth and diversity of more than 24 trillion signals per day, combined with cutting-edge AI/ML and a global team of security experts.

What will be next?

Lockheed Martin and Microsoft will continue to develop each of the four critical areas and demonstrate a series of increasingly complex capabilities through 2023. The capabilities opened up by this collaboration will apply to a variety of defense applications across all domains: land, sea, air , space and cyber.

About Lockheed Martin
With headquarters in Bethesda, MarylandLockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 114,000 people worldwide and is primarily engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and maintenance of advanced technology systems, products and services.

Follow @LMNews on Twitter for the latest announcements and news across the company.

About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is enabling digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more.

SOURCE Lockheed Martin