Lockheed Martin has contracted Guardtime Federal to provide blockchain cyber security, the defense company announced in a blog post.

It's the first US defense contractor to adopt blockchain as part of its security approach and Lockheed Martin says the partnership will allow it to "realize more efficient and secure software development and supply chain risk management."

A blockchain is a type of secure database that maintains a constantly expanding list of records. Each record, or block, contains a link to a previous block. This makes them inherently resistant to modification by outside sources.

"These new cyber security approaches will enhance data integrity, speed problem discovery and mitigation," said Ron Bessire, Lockheed Martin's Engineering and Technology vice president. "The faster our developers can discover issues, the faster we can deliver."

Lockheed Martin is a security and aerospace company, and the world's largest defense contractor. The majority of its revenue comes from US military contracts. Guardtime Federal is likewise the world's biggest in its own field, blockchain cybersecurity.

For more on blockchain and how it was used to implement the digital currency bitcoin, check out this explainer on ZDNet.

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