5G technology is a promising communications platform for the military
Researchers at Raytheon Intelligence & Space are working on a project that uses 5G technology as a communications platform for warfighters, the company announced.
A team at Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a Raytheon Technologies business, is pioneering an approach that can place the power of 5G in the hands of servicemen and women around the world.
5G holds the promise of high-speed connectivity to massive amounts of data from sensors and systems in any location. Under the Raytheon project, operators can operate under one ecosystem versus disparate connections to available data. 5G also provides downloads that are 10 times faster than 4G – the difference between downloading a two-hour movie in 10 seconds versus seven minutes.
“The services must be able to share and access data at any time from any location,” said David Appel, vice president of Defense & Civil Solutions for Space & C2 Systems for RI&S. “Being able to operate secure applications on 5G gives everyone up and down the command chain the ability to see the same thing at the same time. 5G networks provide the speed and resiliency needed to take the command center virtual so no matter where you’re located, you know what’s going on around you.”
5G speed also increases security, according to Raytheon. When operators are on a mission, they can set up mobile 5G network with a signature low enough that it can’t be detected.
“Before now, decisions were made by those with the full picture of what was happening on a particular mission – usually a commander in an operations center,” said Chris Worley, director for Defense & Civil Solutions at RI&S. “Now that the full picture is widely available, those closer to the action can make decisions to speed up reaction time or create new mission options.”
5G can provide real-time data wherever the operators, or air controllers, are located, and whenever a mission requires it, including search and rescue, evacuation operations and humanitarian aid missions.
Read more about the project HERE.
