MILAN – Recent NATO military exercises highlighted the value of incorporating 5G maritime testbeds for use in unmanned underwater vehicles into Alliance operations.
On September 29, the second edition of Dynamic Messenger, hosted by NATO’s Allied Command Transformation and Combined Maritime Command, concluded in Portugal’s Troia, Sado River, and offshore areas of the Sesimbra Peninsula.
The 11-day event focused on testing the maturity of maritime unmanned systems (MUS) and demonstrating the level of interoperability with NATO assets. It brought together 16 allies and one partner country: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In addition, other non-NATO countries, including Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea, also sent observers.
One of the interesting conclusions shared by NATO officials who participated in Dynamic Messenger was regarding leveraging MUS and 5G technology.
“There is great promise in the use of unmanned underwater vehicles and 5G mesh networks to transmit information in underwater areas,” a military official told Defense News via email.
The concept of developing 5G maritime testbeds is fairly new, at least in the military realm. Ultimately, several of his 5G-enabled devices, sensors, vehicles, and endpoints will be able to seamlessly integrate and provide advanced communications capabilities remotely.
In August, Lockheed Martin delivered the final Phase 1 initial prototype of the Open Systems Interoperable and Reconfigurable Infrastructure 5G testbed variant to the U.S. Marine Corps program.
OSIRIS is a 5G communications network infrastructure experiment commissioned by a defense company in 2021. The second phase integrates specific mission applications into the network for evaluation.
On the commercial front, Vodafone last year developed a private 5G network operated by Britain’s Plymouth Marine Institute as a testing ground for maritime applications. According to a statement from the company, this infrastructure is open for free use by domestic and international companies to create 5G maritime use cases.
Naval warfare experts also suggest that 5G has the potential to modernize naval undersea systems without the need for intrusive environmental operations such as digging trenches for underwater cables.
Other unmanned possibilities
In the context of the DYNMS exercise, several combat areas were identified to experiment with deployed maritime unmanned systems supported by other autonomous air and surface assets.
These areas include the protection of critical undersea infrastructure; Enable mine warfare operations using manned and unmanned teams when possible. Strengthen defense capabilities with emphasis on convoy escort operations and anti-unmanned aircraft systems. We carry out nimble and swift amphibious operations from ships to shore.
“Shaibel’s Camcopter S-100 [Portuguese-made] “While the Ogassa OGS42 provided excellent persistent air surveillance capabilities, other aircraft such as Spain’s Kaluga DS USV were able to covertly identify suspicious ground activity,” said Dynamic Messenger. NATO officials said.
“Autonomous underwater vehicle like Gavia” [manufactured by Teledyne Marine] And its side-scan sonar has enabled it to detect anomalies and make informed decisions about how to best respond to potential threats and disruptions to critical underwater infrastructure,” military officials added.
A total of 34 systems were deployed, consisting of three AUVs, two unmanned underwater vehicles, one autonomous water vehicle, eight unmanned surface vehicles, and 13 drones.
Elizabeth Gosselin Maro is Defense News’ Europe correspondent. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in aviation reporting. She is based in Milan, Italy.
