WASHINGTON — Experts say fifth-generation wireless technology, commonly known as 5G, is essential to unlocking digital simulation and virtual reality capabilities that are of growing interest to the U.S. military.
The 5G ecosystem promises exponentially faster speeds and increased support for increasingly sophisticated devices. The U.S. Department of Defense believes the development and deployment of this generation will be the foundation for long-term connectivity and modernization goals. However, deployment and adoption have so far been gradual.
“There are some very exciting applications such as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, command and control, and of course very complex things such as untethered virtual and augmented reality, live simulation and training. ” the Atlantic Council said at an event hosted by the Washington-based think tank.
“I think 5G is one of the really important enablers,” she added.
C4ISRNET moderated the Nov. 6 discussion, which also featured Lockheed Martin Vice President of 5G.MIL Programs Dan Rice and Department of Defense FutureG Principal Director Thomas Rondeau.
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The Department of Defense is pouring money into video game-like simulations and virtual reality for training, planning, logistics and maintenance purposes. However, the application has severe bandwidth and latency requirements. A delayed or intermittent feed can break immersion and distract you from your work.
“When 5G realizes its potential, it will be able to support immersive environments, where you are in a 3D virtual world and multiple other actors also see the same thing, moving more information around. You’re going to interact in the way you need to be, going back and forth between the computing environment and the user device,” Rice said. “I think things like that are going to be unlocked with 5G.”
In October 2020, the Department of Defense announced that it would invest $600 million in 5G experiments at five bases across the country.
These included Naval Base San Diego in California and Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. In the former, 5G has facilitated smart warehousing and testing with augmented reality. The latter utilized virtual reality for mission planning and operations. Continued spending and adjustments are prudent, the panel said.
“The 5G revolution is changing the landscape for the Department of Defense,” Rondeau said. “Every application, every surface, every platform that the Department of Defense has has niche requirements from that network. , that’s one of the really exciting things about this network.”
Colin Demarest is a reporter for C4ISRNET, covering military networks, cyber, and IT. Colin previously covered the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration, including Cold War cleanup and nuclear weapons development, for a daily newspaper in South Carolina. Colin is also an award-winning photographer.
