By Garrett Reim2021-05-03T23:51:00+01:00 The US Air Force’s (USAF’s) Lockheed Martin F-35 and F-22 stealth fighters passed data to one another using a communications gateway aboard a Lockheed U-2 spyplane. The F-35’s Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) and the F-22’s Intra-Flight Data Link are incompatible, so the two aircraft types cannot transmit data to each other. Source: US Air Force US Air Force F-35A stealth fighter To get around that problem, the USAF, Missile Defense Agency and Lockheed used an “Open Systems Gateway” communications payload aboard a U-2 to pass data between one F-22 and five F-35s, Lockheed said on 3 May. The gateway also allowed the stealth aircraft to share data with units on the ground. And, target tracks were transmitted by and through the U-2 into the fighters’ avionics and pilot displays, the company says.