Lockheed Martin, Verizon Demonstrate Capabilities of 5G-Enabled Drones for DOD

A Lockheed Martin drone is prepared for a demonstration with Verizon's 5G capabilities.

A Lockheed Martin drone is prepared for a demonstration with Verizon's 5G capabilities. Courtesy: Verizon

Recent tests showcase how multiple drones can conduct real-time transfers of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data to geolocate military targets.

Lockheed Martin and Verizon are testing the deployment of 5G-connected drones capable of collecting and sharing real-time data over both public and private wireless networks to enhance the Department of Defense’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

The joint demonstration was held in May at Lockheed’s 5G test range in Waterton, Colo., where government officials—including representatives from the Army, Air Force and Pentagon—were reportedly present. Lockheed previously announced in November 2021 that it was partnering with Verizon to develop “5G.MIL,” a military-centric 5G network designed to provide secure and interoperable communications. 

Lockheed and Verizon also held two additional internal demonstrations in September to continue refining the 5G-enabled drones by running them through more difficult and intensive simulations, and there are plans to hold another external test in November for government officials. 

The demonstrations underscored the ability of in-flight 5G-enabled drones to capture and share intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance—or ISR—data used by DOD to geolocate potential military targets. Footage from the tests was shown in a video during a media roundtable on Tuesday with representatives from Lockheed and Verizon. 

During the tests, Lockheed flew four rotary wing drones—or “quadcopters”—that were linked to two on-site private network nodes provided by Verizon to securely transfer ISR data. Verizon and Lockheed said in a press release that the drones were able to identify lower-power radio frequency—or RF—signals emitted by simulated military targets, because “real-time drone sensing data was transmitted over the Verizon network and then processed by advanced signal processing algorithms running on edge compute resources, enabling geolocation of the signal source.”

Dan Rice, Lockheed’s vice president for 5G.MIL programs, said at Tuesday’s media roundtable that the ISR data captured by the drones was “a combination of high-band, digitized RF data and video data.”

“The high-speed, real-time transfer of that data from multiple drones simultaneously through those 5G private networks is an example of the applicability of 5G.MIL and edge processing technology to support military forces and increase situational awareness on the battlespace,” Rice said.

Rice added that the tests also showcased the ability to securely transfer ISR data over both a private 5G network and a simulated public 5G network, which he called an opportunity for DOD “to extend and diversify its communication pathways.”

“This is significant because the military often operates in extreme and austere environments with limited connectivity, and 5G.MIL technology is meant to operate in military environments to be compatible with as many types of networks as possible,” Price said. “Public networks will extend the reach of 5G.MIL to a range of military environments where commercial networks may be available.”

Srini Kalapala, Verizon’s senior vice president for technology and product development, said at the roundtable that the 5G-enabled drone project was just one of the ways that Verizon is working with DOD to use 5G technologies, adding that “we’ve seen the United States Department of Defense taking historic action to advance 5G communications.” 

DOD has moved in recent years to embrace the use of 5G technologies across military installations and operations. The department’s 5G Strategy, released in May 2020, underscored the “long-term economic and military advantage” that 5G offers and noted that the high-speed connectivity it provides will “transform the way militaries operate.” DOD also announced in October 2020 that it was awarding $600 million “for 5G experimentation and testing” at five military sites across the country to help enhance the department’s 5G capabilities. 

Last September, Verizon announced that it was selected by DOD to provide its 5G Ultra Wideband services to seven Air Force installations across the country. Earlier this month, Verizon also received an $11.5 million award from DOD to build a private 5G network in an aircraft maintenance hangar on Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam in Hawaii.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.