Advantages of 5G technology in future US military networks

The article shows that the United States is increasingly paying attention to the application of 5G technology in national defense and military construction, and 5G technology will strongly promote the development of future US military networks and equipment.

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1. 5G will improve the security and efficiency of future U.S. military network services

5G dynamic network slicing capability is the key to improving the efficiency and security of future military network architecture. To achieve end-to-end slicing, the U.S. Department of Defense needs to modernize the current transmission network. One of the most important functions of 5G is to provide "slices" for specific users and their applications to meet their specific network needs. For example, video surveillance cameras require reliable high bandwidth, and drone control requires extremely short response time. By building slices, the network performance required for each application can be provided.

1. How 5G can improve the security of future U.S. military network services

5G dynamic network slicing can protect the confidentiality of multiple network services. Military networks usually have multiple confidentiality levels. Slicing can provide virtual network partitioning, which can fully protect the confidentiality of different services even if all network services share the same physical infrastructure. Slicing can also be implemented in 4.9G/LTE networks, but 4.9G/LTE networks cannot dynamically establish slices.

2. How 5G can improve the efficiency of future U.S. military network services

With the release of the 17th version of the 5G standard (expected to be completed in mid-2022), it will be possible for military networks to create end-to-end slices when a mission is launched and delete the slices after the mission is completed, rather than bundling the mission with unused services, thereby optimizing resources such as spectrum and bandwidth and reducing latency. For example, at naval bases, 5G can provide video and tactile feedback, provide the precise location of vehicles and assets, and track logistical operations; ships can start downloading data before berthing, using 5G to achieve data connection between ships and shores, effectively improving service efficiency.

2. 5G will automate future U.S. military networks

5G dynamic network slicing capabilities provide feasibility for military network automation, with each slice being quickly configured to support operational requirements.

1. Manual configuration of the U.S. military network is a major difficulty

A slice is a virtual network that interconnects applications running in the cloud with devices and users. Slice management must be able to connect with radio, transport and core segments to provide the required performance levels throughout the network. In particular, the underlying transport network must also ensure that the bandwidth and latency on the end-to-end link match the requirements of the wireless network. Currently, the transport architecture is not able to configure network resources on demand across IP, microwave, satellite, terrestrial and submarine fiber networks. End-to-end slices using virtual private network technology require hours or even days to be manually configured.

As military transmission networks develop, operational management issues are increasing. Digital services running on distributed cloud infrastructure will increase exponentially, generating huge traffic, and the number of network nodes and capacity requirements will also grow significantly. This will increase network complexity and make manual configuration of applications more difficult. How to configure applications to ensure performance and reliability is a major difficulty.

2. Future U.S. Military Network Automation and Its Advantages

Therefore, end-to-end slices between various transport layers must be established in an automated manner to communicate the performance requirements of a given slice to all nodes in each network layer to ensure end-to-end implementation. Once the slices are created and all underlying network resources are aligned, continuous measurements using telemetry data are required to ensure that each network layer continues to operate. If performance is lower than the service requirements, the network will access new resources (such as redundant circuits or new virtual resources) to ensure that the mission can be performed. Automated networks can not only support on-demand services and slices, but also improve the efficiency of skill development and reduce the requirements for technical personnel, while reducing the overall cost of operating, transmitting, optimizing and ensuring services. As digital defense architectures become increasingly complex, the U.S. defense sector has begun to realize that now is the time to understand and automate transport networks in the 5G and cloud eras.

3. 5G will enable real-time transmission of future U.S. military equipment and system data

5G improves bandwidth performance and reduces response time. The application of 5G will enable real-time transmission of U.S. military equipment and its system data in the future. The U.S. military equipment that will use 5G in the future mainly includes:

① Command, control and communication systems. 5G supports wireless and wired access, can provide a ubiquitous access layer for US defense operations, and improve the capabilities of command, control and communication systems, which is also one of the goals of the US Department of Defense's 2019 digital modernization strategy.

② 5G-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems: 5G can improve real-time information sharing for situational awareness.

③ Autonomous vehicles and drones. 5G can support real-time transmission of high-resolution video, remote control of autonomous vehicles and drones, and can also use 5G to transmit low-power sensor data in real time, allowing combat personnel to monitor the environment and equipment more extensively.

④ 5G-based virtual reality and augmented reality. The use of 5G will expand the deployment scope of virtual reality and augmented reality, enabling wider deployment indoors and outdoors, around facilities and on-site, and will be mainly used in combat personnel training.