A flight control system comprising: an actuator including a first stage controlled by a plurality of first stage control valves (20,22,24) and a second stage controlled by a plurality of second stage control valves (26,28,30); a first flight controller and a second flight controller configured to generate position commands indicative of a desired position of an actuator required to move a flight control surface to a desired position; a first data link between the first flight controller and the second flight controller operable to communicate information between the first flight controller and the second flight controller; a first actuator remote processing unit and a second actuator remote processing unit configured to receive position commands from a corresponding one of the first flight controller and the second flight controller, the first actuator remote processing unit being configured to generate commands for actuating one of the plurality of first stage control valves (20,22,24) and one of the plurality of second stage control valves (26,28,30) and the second actuator remote processing unit (40,42,44) being configured to generate commands for actuating another of the plurality of first stage control valves (20,22,24) and another of the plurality of second stage control valves (26,28,30) based on the received position commands; a first sensor and a second sensor associated with a respective one of the first and second control valves, and operable to communicate information indicative of actuator operation to a corresponding one of the first actuator remote processing unit and second actuator remote processing unit; and a second data link between the first actuator remote processing unit and second actuator remote processing unit configured to communicate data received from the first and second sensors to the first and second actuator remote processing units independently of the first and second flight controllers (32,34), wherein the first and second actuator remote processing units are configured to generate the commands for the actuator based further on the data received from the other of the actuator remote processing units shared over the second data link. an actuator including a first stage controlled by a plurality of first stage control valves (20,22,24) and a second stage controlled by a plurality of second stage control valves (26,28,30); a first flight controller and a second flight controller configured to generate position commands indicative of a desired position of an actuator required to move a flight control surface to a desired position; a first data link between the first flight controller and the second flight controller operable to communicate information between the first flight controller and the second flight controller; a first actuator remote processing unit and a second actuator remote processing unit configured to receive position commands from a corresponding one of the first flight controller and the second flight controller, the first actuator remote processing unit being configured to generate commands for actuating one of the plurality of first stage control valves (20,22,24) and one of the plurality of second stage control valves (26,28,30) and the second actuator remote processing unit (40,42,44) being configured to generate commands for actuating another of the plurality of first stage control valves (20,22,24) and another of the plurality of second stage control valves (26,28,30) based on the received position commands; a first sensor and a second sensor associated with a respective one of the first and second control valves, and operable to communicate information indicative of actuator operation to a corresponding one of the first actuator remote processing unit and second actuator remote processing unit; and a second data link between the first actuator remote processing unit and second actuator remote processing unit configured to communicate data received from the first and second sensors to the first and second actuator remote processing units independently of the first and second flight controllers (32,34), wherein the first and second actuator remote processing units are configured to generate the commands for the actuator based further on the data received from the other of the actuator remote processing units shared over the second data link.