Evolving geopolitical tensions between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the United States in the Indo-Pacific region pose a pace-keeping threat to the Department of Defense (DoD) and its mission partners. In the past year alone, Chinese-sponsored fishing militias and aircraft have disrupted the peaceful movement of people, products, and ideas.
Compared to previous battles in Iraq and Afghanistan, which were characterized by irregular warfare against non-state actors, the competition in the Indo-Pacific is between two global superpowers.
“Leaders in the region are focused on deterrence, and the prospects for engagement beyond competition are particularly formidable as the integration of transformative applications for military advancement by the United States “This shows that there’s no use in this,” said Ed Barnabas, vice president and chief technology officer for Indo-Pacific, based in Booz Allen’s Honolulu location.
As the Department of Defense focuses on building deterrence and building multilateral and bilateral partnerships, Barnabas is turning to 5G networking solutions as a critical step to advancing and achieving force posture goals. investment and widespread adoption.
5G networking capabilities can support a range of programs like Assault Breaker II. In this program, leaders are looking to leverage unmanned capabilities to not only gather intelligence but also create an operational “hell picture” for adversaries.
Launching a 5G network in this region is easier said than done. Spectrum access and interference issues can pose complications for leaders looking to build out 5G to support programs like Assault Breaker II.
“Another issue is the susceptibility to the use of different types of networks,” said Chris Christou, senior vice president and head of 5G and cloud solutions at Booz Allen. “An attacker may be able to exploit network vulnerabilities (such as RF jamming), and if you need to utilize a commercial network, you need to understand that it is not a trusted network. The facts pose unique challenges for businesses: regional leadership;
Beyond spectrum bandwidth issues, Pentagon leadership may face challenges around silo-building and cybersecurity. 5G is a new technology, he warns Barnabas. As with any new technology, there are vulnerabilities and security risks that must be considered when leveraging the technology.
Enhanced lethality at Mission Edge
The debate surrounding 5G networks betrays an important aspect: 5G is still in its infancy. Public and private organizations are currently investigating how 5G can complement or accelerate existing capabilities.
For example, Booz Allen is investigating how 5G networks will impact the Department of Defense’s future technology stack and enable the deployment of new applications and services. For example, discussions range from expanding edge artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to enhancing the Department of Defense’s suite of unmanned aerial vehicles and sensors.
“5G has three components: enhanced performance,” Christou said. “This higher bandwidth will enable us to support high-quality video delivery to support AR, VR, and XR-based applications that can be incorporated into warfighter training. It is very important for departmental applications.”
Christtou said that in addition to increased bandwidth, 5G’s ultra-reliable, low-latency capabilities will enable future advances, including recent examples such as Booz Allen’s collaboration with Shabodi and OIL to develop edge mobile medical solutions. It points out that it supports the implementation of mission-critical applications that are sensitive to network latency. For remote triage – relies on his reliable 5G network.
Expanding IoT technology is a top priority for the Department of Defense. As unmanned aerial vehicles, drones and sensors are playing an increasingly important role in informing Department of Defense decision-making and digital modernization strategies. By increasing investment in modern technology, leaders can effectively “innovate for competitive advantage.”
“5G isn’t going to solve everything, but it definitely helps when you think about, ‘How do we keep our warfighters operational in all scenarios in a more distributed, edge-like environment?'” Barnabas said.
Prepare for a 5G-enabled future
While 5G network solutions cannot answer all of the Department of Defense’s questions, they can serve as a force multiplier in the Indo-Pacific region. Industry thought leaders like Christou point to the revolutionary nature of his 4G LTE as an example of 5G’s potential.
“What we saw with 4G is the proliferation of Uber, Netflix, and a slew of applications. We saw the entire app store ecosystem on iPhone and Android devices transform the way we interact. ” said Christou. “5G and these new types of applications and their foundations will enable applications that may not have been able to be deployed due to bandwidth or performance constraints.” Over the next few years, I think a whole new ecosystem will emerge with these new capabilities. ”
As Pentagon leadership looks to a new generation of warfare in the Indo-Pacific region, partnerships will play a critical role in ensuring the United States maintains a competitive advantage against hostile threats. It will be fulfilled. By investing in partnerships and evaluating future use cases, such as those seen in the Innovate Beyond 5G (IB5G) program, INDOPACOM leadership aims to improve national security and defense capabilities to achieve military posture objectives. Capabilities can be advanced effectively and efficiently.
“5G will fundamentally change the speed at which data is received and the ability to fuse and process it, providing military advantages in both deterrence and potential conflict,” Barnabas said.
