Harnessing 5G Capabilities for The Future Joint Force

Fifth generation mobile networks, or 5G, promises low latency, higher speeds and ubiquitous connectivity of people and systems across the defense and military enterprise. According to the Defense Department 5G Strategy, “those nations that master advanced communications technologies and ubiquitous connectivity will have a long-term economic and military advantage.” The military has offered its bases as testing grounds for U.S companies and launched other programs to accelerate adoption of 5G technology, enhance the effectiveness and lethality of U.S. combat forces, and further the development and use of common 5G standards to ensure interoperability with military partners and allies.  During a virtual luncheon event in June 2020, AFCEA DC raised awareness across the DOD, government, and industry about the challenges and implications of deploying 5G networks to support military operations. 5G will augment future military capabilities, including dynamic spectrum sharing to take advantage of the limited spectrum available, integrate augmented reality and virtual reality into mission planning and training, and enhance smart warehouses to simplify modern military logistics. Additionally, 5G will improve intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems and processing. Yet, there are technical, policy, and cybersecurity hurdles that still need to be addressed before 5G can effectively accelerate the transmission of vast amounts of data across battle domains.

 In this 5G Defense Technology Summit, we will dig deeper into the challenges that the DoD must overcome to truly harness the power of 5G for military operations, aligning the summit with our overarching theme for the year, A Common Defense: Modern. Innovative. Joint.