Military

Lockheed Martin and Intel Demonstrate 5G Capabilities For Military Aircraft Use

Advanced 5G.MIL connectivity, powered by Intel, drives information dominance for the Department of Defense. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)

As part of its efforts to advance future battlefield connectivity, Lockheed Martin [LMT] in partnership with Intel Corp. [INTC] has successfully conducted a laboratory demonstration of military tactical radios integrated into the company’s fifth-generation wireless military technology, paving the way for flight testing in 2023 of crewed and uncrewed aircraft for distributed teaming.

In the recent demonstration, Intel integrated a 5G Core and Open Radio Access Network into Lockheed Martin’s 5G.MIL Hybrid Base Station to show over-the-air connectivity that can be transitioned to military aircraft. The technology was hosted on ruggedized computers that can be used in fighter and other aircraft.

“The Integration of 5G and military tactical radios into our Hybrid Base Station enables resilient, link-diverse data routing throughout the battlespace to make future crewed-uncrewed distributed teaming missions possible,” John Clark, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, said in a statement. “The Lockheed Martin 5G.MIL HBS was designed using open mission systems standards so that the technology can on-ramp to multiple and varied platforms quickly in support of our customers’ transformation vision.”

Lockheed Martin said that the flight testing in 2023 will be part of the company’s Project Carrera, an evaluation of 5G distributed crewed and uncrewed military aircraft platforms in support of the Defense Department’s vision of joint all-domain operations.

Project Carrera involves partnering survivable crewed platforms with modular uncrewed assets and incorporating demonstrations of capability upgrades in operational scenarios. The project includes a gradual introduction of the Joint All Domain Operations (JADO) technology stack and experimentation, digital engineering, and human-machine interfaces with autonomous and AI capabilities.

According to the announcement from Lockheed Martin, the company will continue to explore in partnership with Intel “how to best bridge current applications of 5G commercial stacks with military datalinks to bring the most capable, resilient communications solutions to the Department of Defense.”

This article was first published by Defense Daily, a sister publication to Avionics International; it has been edited. View the original version here >>

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