Why the Military Is Leading the Charge on 5G

Jackie Niam/iStock.com

It’s not unlike the way that the military heavily invested in radar technology during World War II.

By now, many of us are already experiencing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to 5G technology. Even my personal smartphone occasionally flashes up the 5G symbol when I’m streaming something or using a web application. Unfortunately for me, I don’t see too much of a difference between 4G and 5G networking, but again, most of us only get to see the tiniest bit of what 5G can offer.

Right now, the reason for this is because most 5G networking for the general public is simply a 5G signal layered on top of a 4G infrastructure. Most of the cell towers as well as the backend networking hardware is all 4G, so we don’t get to experience anything even close to a pure 5G experience.

A pure 5G communications system would be almost fully software-based, right down to running on a software-defined network. And because it would be free of mechanical and hardware constraints, a fully 5G network would not just experience 100 times the speed of its 4G predecessors, but also have 100 times lower latency, more reliability and lower power consumption needs. That is why the military is really leading the charge on 5G adoption, ahead of even the private sector in a lot of ways.

The Military’s Big Plans for 5G

The Department of Defense sees 5G technology as a true game changer for military forces, able to one day turn the tide of battle and give our side an insurmountable edge. It’s not unlike the way that the military heavily invested in radar technology during World War II. The DOD sees 5G as being able to make that kind of difference one day.

To that end, they are aggressively pursuing their 5G Strategy Implementation Plan. The plan includes promoting 5G technology development, testing both the advantages and potential vulnerabilities of 5G, engaging with private-sector partners and actively influencing industry as policies and standards are developed and put in place.

They are already pushing forward with those plans. Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; Naval Base San Diego, California; Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada; and Hill Air Force Base, Utah, all now have 5G technology testbeds as part of the “Tranche 1” phase of their plan. They are actively testing everything from telemedicine to Battlefield of Things initiatives. And the DOD is gearing up to begin the Tranche 2 phase, which will bring more testbeds online at more bases.

DOD Is Already Testing Prototypes

We are still at the very early stages of 5G, but some of the technology’s potential uses are already gearing up for testing. For example, the Defense Innovation Unit is working with private companies to develop what it calls the Private 5G Program. The idea is that they can design a small unit that can be dropped in almost anywhere and then be activated to provide full 5G networking within a certain geographic area.

The Private 5G Program can work regardless of the existing physical infrastructure in the area, so if there are no cell towers, it won’t matter. In fact, it’s being designed to work specifically in areas of low bandwidth, no bandwidth and even areas with potentially contested bandwidth. It could be just as useful to a squad of soldiers operating behind enemy lines on foreign soil as it is to National Guard troops performing search and rescue operations or firefighting in remote areas back home.

And the DOD is learning about the pros and cons of 5G through these testbed programs as well. For example, one might think that providing 100 times the bandwidth might make 5G technology less secure because it increases the footprint for attackers. But the opposite is actually true. In fact, 5G has a lot of inherent advantages in terms of security compared with 4G or 802.11 wireless technology. For example, most of the data traffic on a 5G network can be routed thorough the IP tunnel, which is encrypted by default. The DOD can then layer even more security on top of that without worrying about clogging up the bandwidth of a 5G network.

The Biggest Innovations Are Coming Soon

As impressive as the prototypes coming out of the DOD 5G testbeds are today, many of them, like DIU’s Private 5G Program, involve the infrastructure itself. The real innovation will come after the infrastructure is established. Then we will start to see things like artificial intelligence, robotics, predictive analytics, environmental sensing and things we can’t even really imagine yet starting to follow.

There are programs that the military wants to do now that simply aren’t possible using a 4G network or 802.11 wireless technology. The testbeds are not only showing how 5G will work, but what is possible once the technology is in place. Who knows what innovations are on the horizon. Will we see autonomous military vehicles, augmented reality-based navigation, real-time 3D imaging of an entire battlefield, or any number of seemingly impossible ideas suddenly becoming feasible?

One thing that is almost a certainty is that it will be the military driving the trends this time. Like GPS when it first came out, these new 5G innovations will likely start as military-only tools before slowly making their way to the mainstream. And at the pace that DOD is setting, we can expect to see a lot of really interesting ideas becoming reality very quickly as 5G continues to evolve. 

John Breeden II is an award-winning journalist and reviewer with over 20 years of experience covering technology. He is the CEO of the Tech Writers Bureau, a group that creates technological thought leadership content for organizations of all sizes. Twitter: @LabGuys

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.