The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor: MOSA in flight
StoryMay 08, 2025
The F-22 Raptor, a cornerstone of American air dominance, has been a symbol of military prowess for decades. The integration of a modular open systems approach (MOSA) – a strategic initiative that emphasizes and enables the rapid integration of advanced software, sensors, and other capabilities – lies at the heart of its continued relevance.
In an exclusive interview, Justin Taylor, Vice President of the F-22 program at Lockheed Martin, shares insights into the journey of implementing MOSA on the Raptor and its implications for future military aviation.
In photo: Justin Taylor, Vice President of the F-22 program at Lockheed Martin
Driving the future of air dominance
Justin Taylor’s career with Lockheed Martin has ranged from leading the corporation’s artificial intelligence (AI) efforts to pioneering the development of the company’s open system architectures. His role in the F-22 program, where he oversees execution of Lockheed Martin’s sustainment and modernization efforts – including leveraging the modular open systems approach (MOSA) to enhance the aircraft’s capabilities and maintain its position as a leading air dominance fighter – represents a culmination of these experiences.
Taylor views his current role as “the best of both worlds … because we’re actively supporting the fleet’s mission readiness today while also ramping up the most advanced, innovative technology needed for the future.” (There is no official replacement for the F-22; the aircraft is expected to remain operational for the next 20 or so years.) Maintaining the fleet’s asymmetric advantage through continuous upgrades and sustainment is his team’s top priority.
Iterating for relevance: The evolution of F-22 MOSA
According to Taylor, the evolving threat environment and the need for agility in integrating new technologies drove Lockheed Martin’s decision to adopt MOSA on the F-22. MOSA enables the use of nonproprietary interfaces, both physical and logical, which reduces vendor lock-in and increases competition among suppliers.
This approach also facilitates the integration of commercial technologies, which enables third-party developers to contribute to the F-22’s capabilities. For example, Lockheed Martin’s use of Red Hat’s Enterprise Linux gives developers a familiar environment to accelerate the testing of new applications.
Lockheed Martin’s MOSA journey began over a decade ago: In 2010, Taylor and his colleagues recognized the need to leverage modern core processing and compute technology from commercial industries. Taylor led this OSA effort, which involved developing a hybrid and partitioned architecture that could leverage commercial standards while ensuring security and reliability.
In 2013, the company flew the first prototype of an OSA on the F-22. Known as “Project Missouri,” this prototype demonstrated for the first time the potential of using commercial computing technology in a secure and embedded architecture.
Taylor reflects on the initial prototype: “The biggest limiting factor was the computers themselves. So that was ‘the’ big muscle movement. That’s why it took us some time to prove it in 2013 and to get it all wrapped up.” He continues, “But that was just the beginning … the foundation so that you can … open up the aperture in an open marketplace.” Once the computer came online, he notes, his team had to make changes across the board – from process and culture to contracting – to work in a different way and move at the speed of relevance.
The company’s implementation of MOSA gained additional momentum with the Advanced Raptor Enhancement and Sustainment (ARES) contract in 2021, which shifted the F-22 towards iterative updates.
By 2022, Lockheed Martin had completed Raptor Release One, which made the F-22 the first combat aircraft to fly with an open architecture. This release included a Link 16 hardware upgrade, which enabled the F-22 to share information more effectively across the joint fleet, including with the F-35.
MOSA, digital engineering, and sandboxes
The integration of MOSA has significantly enhanced the F-22’s ability to integrate new technologies and capabilities more quickly and efficiently. Taylor notes that the program is now capable of fielding capabilities in a 12- to 18-month cycle, a pace unprecedented for the F-22. This agility remains crucial to the F-22’s ability to respond to continuously evolving threats and to ensure the aircraft remains a strategic deterrent.
The adoption of MOSA has also spurred the adoption of digital engineering practices on the F-22. This move includes the use of model-based systems engineering (MBSE), which enables the digital design of sensors and subsystems from the outset. While specific details on sensors are sensitive, Taylor notes that the MOSA approach continues facilitating rapid integration of a variety of new technologies for the F-22. For example, the use of digital engineering practices will streamline the integration of the F-22’s new infrared defensive system by leveraging digitally modeled components. This digital approach enables wider reuse of design elements, which reduces the complexity and time required for integration.
Taylor emphasizes that the powerful combination of MOSA and digital engineering has positioned the F-22 as a bridge to next-generation fighters. By extending viability through continuous upgrades, Lockheed Martin will future-proof the Raptor, strengthening its position as a critical piece of the Air Force’s future family of systems.
Besides leveraging digital engineering, the F-22 program also uses a sandbox approach with the Air Force to rapidly prototype new MOSA concepts for the Raptor. This method of working involves using a strongly partitioned security architecture to securely enable prototyping within a testing environment. The technique accelerates the maturity of new concepts and facilitates the open marketplace where developers can invest in applications with confidence.
Digital, dominant, and ready
As a result of MOSA, the small but mighty F-22 fleet – which recently surpassed 500,000 flight hours – should now operate well into the 2040s without major structural upgrades. Maintaining and sustaining the aircraft through the agile updates facilitated by MOSA will be key to the fleet’s future, especially as operational tempos continue to increase.
Taylor also views MOSA as the standard for future defense programs in general. By enabling a collaborative environment, diverse investments can benefit the entire defense industrial base as well as the F-22 program. “The work being done today not only enhances the Raptor’s legendary legacy,” he says, “but also ushers in the next generation of air dominance, cementing the F-22’s position as a cornerstone of American military strategy.” Taylor’s final words on the F-22: “Lockheed Martin, alongside the Air Force, remains committed to ensuring that the fleet is digital, dominant, and ready. When it comes to integrating open systems for combat power, there is no better example than the Raptor.”
Justin Taylor began his career as a software engineer and has been with Lockheed Martin from the start. In his words, he “grew up in Skunk Works,” where he ultimately led mission systems and technology R&D, including the development of the company’s open systems architecture (OSA) computing solution. Before leading the F-22 program, he served as the company’s Vice President of AI, where he empowered over a thousand AI and machine learning (ML) engineers across the corporation. His extensive experience developing cutting-edge solutions has been instrumental in transitioning both AI and OSA technologies to the F-22 program.
Contributing Editor Dawn M.K. Zoldi (Colonel, USAF, Retired) is the CEO of P3 Tech Consulting LLC.
Lockheed Martin https://www.lockheedmartin.com/
P3 Tech Consulting https://www.p3techconsulting.com/
