Project Convergence is the premier US Army experimentation exercise, seeking to define how the US and international partners, including the UK and Australia, will fight in a multi-domain battlespace

Lockheed Martin has showcased UK sovereign technologies developed by British engineers in support of the British Army’s participation in ‘Project Convergence,’ an event held over the last few weeks to demonstrate next-generation deterrence technologies to an international audience in the United States.

SkyKeeper, a Battlespace Management Command and Control system developed in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, and Indago 4, a TIQUILA programme uncrewed air system (UAS) developed by Skunk Works engineers and containing advanced surveillance technology developed by engineers in Havant, Hampshire were demonstrated to key allies including Australia, France, Japan, New Zealand and the U.S. by the British Army, supported by Lockheed Martin technicians from both locations.

Paul Livingston, Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin UK said: “This event offers an opportunity to show how home-grown UK defence technologies can address lessons currently being learned in Ukraine, while helping our international allies develop and integrate advanced capabilities for multi-domain operations.”

SkyKeeper is an evolution of the British Army’s in-service Land Environment Air Picture Provision (LEAPP) capability, which has been deployed with the British Army during both the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts and has also been used to help protect the British public and dignitaries at high-profile global events hosted in the UK, including COP26 and G7 Summits. LEAPP has recently gone through an upgrade programme which enables it to communicate via Link 16, allowing enhanced situational awareness data sharing among NATO and allied nations.

“Project Convergence (PC) is an excellent opportunity to experiment with new concepts and derisk future capabilities alongside allied partners. As part of our presence at PC, we have demonstrated LEAPP in a box, showcasing how the system can be adapted for greater flexibility, mobility, and agility. Iterative development of LEAPP is enabling 7 Air Defence Group to sustain a military advantage of this critical capability against an ever-evolving threat landscape,” said Colonel Chris Coton, Commander 7 Air Defence Group.

Lockheed Martin was also invited by the British Army to integrate TIQUILA with Project ZODIAC. Project ZODIAC is transforming how the Army undertakes data-led decision making in the land environment to gain operational advantage and is committed to integrating all battlefield sensor capabilities including new capability delivered by the TIQUILA UAS programme.

Indago 4, one of the small uncrewed air systems which forms part of the UK’s TIQUILA intelligence, surveillance, tracking and reconnaissance UAS programme, took to the skies during Project Convergence. TIQUILA UAS features sophisticated targeting, and automated target and threat recognition, enabled by the latest artificial intelligence technology.

With 1,700 employees in the UK, almost half of whom are engineers, Lockheed Martin has been a strategic partner to the UK for the past 80 years, providing defence and security solutions, and contributing to the nation’s economy and prosperity.

More than 21,000 jobs are sustained across the company’s approximately 880 supply chain partners, providing economic benefits through high-value employment which touches most UK regions.