Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) announced it is on a mission to combine commercially available 5G technology with military-grade network and transmission security features to create a global defense communications network. The contractor has trademarked the name 5G.MIL for its solutions that integrate military communications with tactical gateway capabilities and 5G technology. CEO James Taiclet, former CEO of American Tower, is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Lockheed Martin said that its 5G.MIL program will be a “robust, 5G-enabled, heterogeneous ‘network of networks’ that integrates military tactical, strategic and enterprise networks, and leverages existing telecommunication infrastructure technology.” The 5G.MIL solutions will be designed to enable interoperability between 5G networks, next generation networks and operational Department of Defense networks.
On Tuesday, Verizon (NYSE: VZ) agreed to collaborate with Lockheed Martin to collaborate on technologies that will provide ultra-secure, reliable connections for U.S. DoD systems, spanning air, land, sea, space and cyber domains. The strategic relationship agreement also establishes a joint research and development lab framework to prototype, demonstrate and test 5G.MIL technologies.
In March, Lockheed Martin signed another agreement with Omnispace, LLC to jointly develop 5G capability from space. The proposed global 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) would offer commercial, enterprise and government devices ubiquitous communications worldwide.
The 5G NTN will use Omnispace’s priority 2 GHz S-band spectrum rights and employ 3GPP standards to enable direct-to-device connectivity and interoperability. In collaboration with Lockheed Martin, this hybrid 5G network will be designed to provide the coverage and capacity to support DoD applications requiring global communications.
Earlier this week, Lockheed Martin and Verizon conducted a successful interoperability demonstration using a Verizon private 5G network installed at Lockheed Martin Space’s 5G Test Range in Colorado, connected to a Lockheed Martin open mission system processor running mission applications at the Skunk Works® Integration Facility and Test Center in Texas.
By J. Sharpe Smith Inside Towers Technology Editor
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