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Just In: Department of Defense, Industry Collaborates on Fieldspace-Based 5G Networks
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The Department of Defense and satellite communications industry leaders say they must work together to take 5G technology to new heights: space.
The U.S. military hopes to adopt 5G to improve communication from commanders to soldiers and military equipment in harsh environments. To meet this need, the Department of Defense Research and Engineering Office has listed 5G and “Next-G” (the wireless technology that will succeed 5G) as one of its top technology priorities.
However, some believe that for 5G networks to support future military operations, the infrastructure must include earth- and space-based systems.
“Our command posts today cannot operate in large-scale combat operations…if they are nearby, as they are today,” Brig said.General Jeth Rey, director of Army Futures Command’s Network Cross-Functional Team, during a panel at the Satellite 2022 conference in Washington, D.C.
Ray added that the Army’s next-generation combat capabilities will require reliable 5G connectivity that can be provided in space. He cited unmanned aerial systems and the Army’s C5ISR/Electronic Warfare Modular Open Standards, an effort to converge the Army’s specific combat capabilities into one system, as some examples.
Typical 5G infrastructure relies heavily on terrestrial communication systems, which consist of buried fiber optic cables. However, a policy brief by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars think tank, “The Role of Satellites in 5G Networks.
These demands include increased traffic and connections to rural environments, the need for rapid coverage of devices in motion, and processing and data caching closer to the edge of the network.
To achieve this, the Department of Defense wants to partner with industry to leverage the 5G communications infrastructure already built and in use around the world, dubbed the Defense Department’s “operate through.” said Daniel Massey, program lead for the 5G to Next G initiative.
“If we are at war with the industry, we will be swallowed up … we want to align, not compete, with where the industry is headed.” said Massey.
Massey’s office has three environments where the military operates on 5G: where the Department of Defense owns the network entirely, where external users are on the edge of someone else’s network, and where it’s a combination of the two. I am working on how to do it. Pursuing the last option, he noted, is why the Pentagon launched the Operate Through Initiative.
Don Claussen, Intelsat’s vice president of business development, said the space-based 5G architecture the company is developing could offer enhanced capabilities to fighter jets compared to those offered in the past. I’m here.
Intelsat focuses on addressing fragmentation between network and space components and improving inter-network roaming capabilities. He does not have five terminals, each of which he performs one mission, ”said Clausen.
It will be important for combatants to be able to seamlessly and automatically switch communication paths and have confidence in their devices, said Massey.
“It doesn’t matter what link you send it over,” he said. “I should be able to roam seamlessly…and roam between them. As the ultimate end of the communication, I shouldn’t really know or care.
Ray also emphasized the importance of 5G networks, which will support voice communications similar to the mobile phones that many young soldiers are familiar with, but noted that the technology has not yet been successfully implemented.
Deploying 5G from space for military use with industry backing also comes with bureaucratic challenges.
Rajeev Gopal, vice president of advanced programs at Hughes Network Systems, said one is to get the government more involved in the standardization process for 5G networks. Standards allow the telecommunications industry to agree on the basic functionality and implementation of a technology.
Hughes announced March 21 that it has won an $18 million contract to deploy a 5G network at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. This is to connect the base to his secure 5G network to support operations, maintenance and flight management. Gopal said during the design review of his program he was able to streamline the process with the 5G standard.
“The feedback has been very positive that the government has taken the right step by choosing 5G as one of its core technologies,” said Gopal. “Thanks to the standards that come with 5G, it will help a lot across connectivity and computing.”
Another challenge is maintaining network security while working closely with industry to ensure that information shared across networks is protected from adversaries.
Clausen acknowledged that there will need to be some give and take from both industry and government to build better partnerships. The industry creates resilience to communication pathways required by governments and adopts its security standards. At the same time, governments will have to give up some of the property rights they have become accustomed to.
Massey agreed.
“We have to leverage that commercial infrastructure and we have to leverage those standards,” he said. “That trust will make him one of the hardest pivots for us.”
topic: Emerging Technologies, Space, Battlefield Communications
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