DETROIT — Red Hat and Lockheed Martin are working to improve artificial intelligence (AI) at the edge for military applications.
Lockheed Martin is adopting Red Hat Device Edge to help it support U.S. national security missions by using AI technology in geographic locations that are hard to reach, according to Red Hat last month.
Lockheed Martin and Red Hat believe the use of Red Hat Device Edge will help military platforms “adapt to threat environments” in real-time.
Red Hat Device Edge will provide Lockheed Martin’s military platform with a Kubernetes orchestration solution, MicroShift, built from the capabilities of Red Hat OpenShift, Kubernetes container platform, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Lockheed Martin is considered a key contributor to the MicroShift project to help bring edge capabilities to inaccessible environments. Lockheed Martin plans to use Red Hat Device Edge for a range of military use cases: land, sea, air, space, and cyber.
For instance, the companies are using Red Hat Device Edge to equip U.S. military platforms, such as the Stalker unmanned aerial system (UAS). Red Hat Device Edge is designed to enable small platforms to handle large AI workloads, increasing their field capability and data-backed decision making.
The Stalker used onboard sensors, Red Hat Device Edge, and AI in flying intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions to more accurately classify a military target and improve situational awareness, according to Red Hat.
Lockheed Martin is also using Red Hat OpeShift to enhance Lockheed’s 5G.MIL solutions for communications for the Department of Defense, according to Red Hat.
“Global innovation”
With Red Hat Device Edge, Lockheed Martin is “leading the infusion of cutting-edge commercial technology into military capabilities that deliver advanced solutions to our customers,” said Justin Taylor, VP, AI, Lockheed Martin.
“Unlocking these AI technologies can help national security decision makers stay ahead of adversaries, enabling a safer and more secure world.”
With Red Hat Device Edge, Red Hat will work with Lockheed Martin to “change what communications and artificial intelligence looks like in the most space-constrained and far-flung environments, whether remote mountain ranges or beyond the boundaries of Earth’s atmosphere,” said Francis Chow, VP and GM, in-vehicle operating system and edge, Red Hat.Â
Recent Red Hat activity
Over the past year, Red Hat has formed numerous deals and partnerships in various industries, including several recent ones:
- Red Hat OpenShift and Siemens are working to innovate at the factory edge
- Red Hat launched Red Hat Enterprise Linux for AWS
- Crédit Agricole Group’s infrastructure platform is driving automation and operations with Red Hat
The growing AI market
The global artificial intelligence (AI) market was estimated to be valued at $87.04 billion in 2021 and is anticipated to hit $1.59 trillion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.1%, according to Precedence Research.
Growth in the market is being driven by new technologies using machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL), according to Precedence Research.
The growing military cybersecurity market
The global defense cyber security market is estimated to grow from $19.96 billion in 2021 to $29.81 billion in 2028, at a CAGR of 5.36%, according to Fortune Business Insights.
China, India, and the U.S. are leading the market as they invest in cybersecurity within their defense departments.
Red Hat and Lockheed leaders discuss AI tech
Nick Barcet — senior director of customer-led open innovation at Red Hat — and Greg Forrest — director of AI foundations at Lockheed Martin — talk at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America:
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