Pentagon Unveils Private 5G Strategy to Boost Military Networks

The Department of Defense recently released a new strategy outlining plans to deploy private 5G networks across U.S. military installations for department mission. The plan will deliver new levels of network performance, capabilities and efficiencies for the DOD’s Joint Force, officials said.

“We must leverage emerging and advanced technologies to become more efficient, effective, automated and sustainable,” wrote Leslie Beavers, acting Defense CIO, in the document. “This includes a global interconnected communications network that is robust, high performing, secure, agile and resilient-designed to accommodate scalability, rapid adaptation for war, and rapid reconstitution.”

The strategy is a key component of the CIO office’s Fulcrum strategy released earlier this year.

“Fifth generation mobile network technologies provide capabilities that accelerate enterprise innovation, optimize services for efficiencies and improved capability, and enable Fulcrum [Line of Effort] 2: modernize information networks and compute to rapidly meet mission and business need,” Beavers wrote.

“The department anticipates that most military installations will use commercial 5G solutions,” the document states, “but under certain circumstances, commercial networks may not fulfill an installation’s requirements.” Private networks offer greater control over security, coverage and performance, the strategy reads, ensuring optimal functionality for critical military operations.

For implementation, the document calls for the DOD OCIO’s 5G Cross-Functional Team (5G CFT) to convene and lead a working group with representation from the department components to study and make recommendations for private 5G governance and further implementation.

The new strategy highlights the importance of maximizing open radio access networks (Open RAN). Open RAN, according to the Defense Department, allows for greater flexibility and interoperability between different network equipment vendors. Securing Open RAN is key to DOD’s 5G strategy, DOD 5G Cross Functional Team Director Juan Ramirez told GovCIO Media & Research in July.

“The CFT is looking at policies, are looking at directives and standards that are more secure,” said Ramirez. “There’s a whole slew of things that we’re working on to ensure that, as we deploy Open RAN… that we are working with trusted vendors.”

The strategy also notes that 5G implementation will “allow the warfighter to ingest and transfer massive amounts of data” as part of the military’s information advantage goals. Implementing 5G is part of the department-wide efforts to bring data to warfighters more quickly and comprehensively, NAVWAR Chief Engineer Robert Wolborsky told GovCIO Media & Research in October. The Navy is piloting different 5G implementation, he said.

“We are looking at and have done some piloting of using 5G instead of Wi-Fi inside the skin of the ship, understanding that the properties of it and the speed and capability may be a better value to the Navy in our ability to distribute signals without having to have significant amount of infrastructure on our tactile platform,” said Wolborsky.

The compressive strategy is part of the DOD’s innovation strategy. In an interview with GovCIO Media & Research in October, Defense Innovation Unit Cyber Senior Project Manager Dwayne Florenzie said that 5G holds huge potential for innovative military uses.

“We can start tapping into private networks as here now for DOD,” Florenzi said. “We can take that into the tactical range where we have a forward operating base and be able to have mesh networks, or have perimeter security, or have a portable network that you can go into an austere environment and have communications almost immediately.”

The document builds on ongoing Pentagon efforts to incorporate 5G technology into its operational capabilities, including for warfighters. Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2), for example, is designed to facilitate seamless communication, connection and information sharing across disparate military platforms and environments. 5G integration and coverage is critical to scaling CJADC2, according to Ramirez.

“You can actually see benefits between each of the services as we bring in the ‘C’ for CJADC2. We’re actually working with interagency partners now and actually taking our capabilities and scaling them,” said Ramirez. “That’s what 5G has, and that’s even what the potential of future G has. It’s not just one technology that’s going to be stagnant.”