Military Embedded Systems

5G network from Hughes Network System chosen as testbed for DoD

News

March 21, 2022

Lisa Daigle

Assistant Managing Editor

Military Embedded Systems

5G network from Hughes Network System chosen as testbed for DoD
Hughes Network Systems image.

GERMANTOWN, Md. Hughes Network Systems has won a contract worth $18 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to deploy a standalone 5G network at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. 

The Hughes 5G network will use spectrum from DISH Wireless -- which is providing a combination of low band, mid band, and high band (mmWave) spectrum -- to connect the base with a secure 5G network to support operations, maintenance, and flight-traffic management. 

Dr. Rajeev Gopal, vice president, Advanced Programs, Hughes, said that the three-year project is aimed at demonstrating for the DoD how the Hughes 5G infrastructure -- including a packet processing core, radio access, edge cloud, security, and network management – is able to power the resilient networking necessary to transform base operations. 

The contract will be executed through an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA)  through the Information Warfare Research Project (IWRP) consortium, a collaborative intended to engage industry and academia to develop and mature technologies in the field of information warfare that enhance Navy and Marine Corps mission effectiveness.

Featured Companies

Hughes Network Systems

11717 Exploration Lane
Germantown, MD 20876

U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)

1400 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1400

U.S. Navy

1200 Navy Pentagon
Washington, DC 20350-1200