Lockheed Martin launches 'AI Fight Club'
NewsJune 04, 2025
BETHESDA, Maryland. Lockheed Martin will launch a new initiative called AI Fight Club later this year, a competitive simulation platform designed to evaluate artificial intelligence (AI) systems for defense applications under Department of Defense (DoD)-aligned conditions, the company announced in a statement.
The AI Fight Club program will use a synthetic, multi-domain environment to simulate operationally realistic military scenarios and assess AI agents submitted by industry and academic teams, the statement reads. The goal is to accelerate the development, validation, and deployment of AI systems to support decision-making in time-critical, contested environments.
According to the company, participating teams will compete in bracket-style matchups across mission profiles such as airborne operations in contested airspace, layered homeland defense, coastal defense against amphibious assault, and space-based surveillance. Each AI model will be judged against pre-established evaluation criteria informed by operational analysis.
“AI Fight Club uses advanced simulation and visualization to evaluate AI in realistic and complex scenarios that mimic the challenges of modern warfare,” the company states. “Teams with the best AI will battle each other to determine the most robust, reliable, and effective models.”
John Clark, Lockheed Martin’s senior vice president of technology and strategic innovation, says the program aims to identify and refine the AI systems that best meet the evolving needs of the U.S. military. “There has never been a more important time to prove which implementations of AI technologies are the best, to help the United States stay ahead of the threats facing our nation and allies,” he said in a statement.
The platform will incorporate DoD qualification requirements into its scoring framework, with successful teams demonstrating not only technical performance but also integration potential for future operational use. Government officials will observe the competitions, and participants will have the option to publish results.
Lockheed Martin plans to finalize the virtual arena in the third quarter of 2025, with the first official AI Fight Club event (AIFC1) scheduled for Q4. Teams interested in competing can apply through Lockheed Martin's website or by contacting the company directly.
