Industry partnership essential to leverage DoD, 5G, and FutureG Tech
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WASHINGTON, DC — A potential military conflict in the Indo-Pacific region is exposing weaknesses in the Pentagon’s 5G networks and spurring research and development into 6G beyond, officials said.
Although 5G has enhanced the capabilities of the U.S. military, significant weaknesses remain, including increased traffic leading to network security risks, cyber threats, data overload, and limited visibility, according to 5G and FutureG. Juan Ramirez, deputy director of the cross-functional team, said at the national conference. Defense Industry Association Conference and Exhibition on Emerging Technologies for Defense.
In March 2022, the Department of Defense will accelerate the deployment of innovative 5G and next-generation wireless networking technologies. [U.S.] Military forces can operate effectively anywhere, including within networks during conflicts.
Ramirez said 5G is a much more “disruptive” technology than before, which the department will need to work with commercial departments to advance research and develop a strategic roadmap that ties into department-wide goals. said to mean.
“How can we improve the warfighter’s mission, enable them to share that information with each other, and better bridge the gap between industry and the sector and further develop the relationship?” Ramirez said.
Tom Rondeau, principal director of 5G and FutureG’s cross-functional team, said the commercial industry has strengths that the sector lacks, making partnerships between the two parties increasingly important.
“What’s interesting about the technology we’re talking about here is its scalability. [Large companies] creates technology that serves billions of people a day. “The amount of traffic that goes through these networks is incredible compared to what we do as the Department of Defense,” he said. “It’s nothing compared to the scale of commercial cell phone infrastructure. It’s impressive.”
Partnerships and investments in 5G and FutureG research and development are essential to deterring potential Indo-Pacific conflict, according to Army Gen. Laura Richardson, commander of U.S. Southern Command.
Richardson said during a panel discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies that China currently has surpassed the United States in the wireless network market, particularly in 5G technology.
“Five countries have the backbone of China’s 5G,” Richardson said. “Twenty-four countries have China’s 3G or 4G backbone,” she said, adding that what typically happens is that countries with older technology are offered an upgrade to 5G at almost zero cost.
Richardson said the United States needs a wireless network, “not a Chinese network that we know has backdoors that allow us to get information that we don’t want China to know.” “We need an alternative to China, and if we can’t compete there… [other countries] That’s what you’ll choose. ”
While the department is working to take full advantage of the capabilities of 5G, it also has its sights set on 6G.
In August 2022, the department announced three new innovations in the Innovate Beyond 5G program, which aims to “continue to advance the Department of Defense’s collaborative partnerships with industry and academia toward wireless technologies from 5G to NextG,” according to a press release. announced the launch of the project.
Open6G aims to initiate research into 6G systems on open radio access networks. The Spectrum Exchange Security and Scalability project aims to further develop spectrum sharing technology over wireless networks. Large-scale multi-input/multi-output projects from MHz to GHz are designed to explore key technology components that enable the expansion of multi-input/multi-output technologies across a variety of bands and bandwidths.
These three sector projects will bring together government and commercial sectors to continue preparing 6G capabilities to “enable high-performance, secure, and resilient network operations for future warfighters.” The press release states that this is the purpose.
Both governments and industry are now preparing for the decline of 5G and the rise of 6G.
“Everyone is looking for the culprit. [application] for 5G,” Rondeau said.
Everyone is trying to chase 5G’s killer app, but it’s difficult to predict technology developments and their impact on current features, so people may mistakenly identify the killer app at a critical moment. Almost.
“I would actually argue that the killer app for 2G was SMS texting. That completely changed, but no one expected that to happen at the time,” he said. N.D.
topic: Department of Defense Electronics
