The US Department of Defense’s FutureG Office is discreetly revolutionizing the landscape of military operations at the heart of technological advancement. This innovative office is establishing the foundation for a new era of battlefield dominance, intelligence, and connectivity by leading the implementation and testing of 5G capabilities.
Since moving to the Defense Department’s Chief Information Office in 2023, the FutureG office at the Pentagon has been working to expand previous efforts to research and test 5G and next-generation wireless networks. As the office considers 5G deployment, Tom Rondeau, the Chief FutureG Officer at the Pentagon, emphasized that leveraging capabilities developed during research and development and conducting real-world experiments is key to successful implementation.
Rondeau underscored the significance of personnel and their experience in the successful transition of technologies from the laboratory to real-world applications during an interview at the ‘Emerging Technologies for Defense’ conference and exhibition organized by NDIA on August 7, 2024. He emphasized the necessity of comprehending the intricacies and constraints of radio systems to guarantee their efficient integration and operation.
In the past, the Pentagon conducted several next-generation communication experiments. In 2020, the department awarded contracts to multiple vendors to create 5G and FutureG test projects at various military bases across the US, each evaluating different military uses of the technology, such as smart warehouses and spectrum sharing.
In 2023, the office also launched pilot projects using open radio access network (O-RAN) technology at other sites, aiming to collaborate with companies to understand how to implement open networks and open-source software approaches to wireless communication.
Rondeau said that by the end of 2024, the FutureG office plans to add 5G capabilities to force protection surveillance towers at three U.S. Africa Command bases in East Africa. The towers, made by defense technology company Anduril and funded by the Pentagon, were built using tactical radios and lack 5G capabilities, meaning they have lower data transmission speeds, resolution, and frame rates, he noted.
Rondeau emphasized the significance of collaborating with Anduril to transition to 5G technology, emphasizing the additional features it would enable during the interview. He stated that contractors had been granted funding to improve the technology’s capabilities, which led to the production of high-definition video with high frame rates. Rondeau underscored the importance of this enhancement, noting that it could be essential in the identification of those who are transporting harmless objects and those who are armed with weapons.
According to Rondeau, the autonomous towers provide full perimeter coverage of the bases, and AFRICOM will soon also deploy an unmanned aerial vehicle to extend its situational awareness beyond the stationary facility.
The FutureG office will also participate in a multinational 5G experiment at Camp Ādaži in Latvia with NATO partners in the fall of 2024, Rondeau said. Ādaži, one of the largest training grounds in the Baltics, has already been upgraded with 5G technology by Latvia Mobile Telecom to test the technology for military applications, thus advancing the overall 5G market, he explained.
Rondeau disclosed that the exercise was being conducted by a number of countries, including the Michigan Air National Guard, Spain, Norway, Sweden, U.S. forces, and Latvia. He expressed a desire to transition the testing to real-world scenarios, such as training ranges where kinetic operations are conducted. Rondeau was of the opinion that this would offer valuable insights into the practical applications and benefits of the technologies being evaluated.
He added that the experiment is expected to lead to a “miniaturized version” of Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2). The Pentagon’s initiative aims to integrate data streams from all US military services and international allies and partners to enable better and faster decision-making.
According to Rondeau, although the FutureG office is not currently directly involved in this work, it still periodically communicates with department officials leading CJADC2.
Rondeau emphasized the successful demonstration of interoperability at the network level, which was accomplished through collaboration with the Joint Staff and NATO. He underscored that the interoperability was facilitated by the high bandwidth and advanced security features of 5G, which served as the foundational network.
He further stated that the forthcoming exercises are designed to guarantee data-level interoperability and integrate stakeholders with new data levels developed by the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office and the Joint Staff.