As devices get smarter and generate more data, military users must find secure, high-data-rate methods to access all of this information, no matter their tactical location. New 5G networks will support quick and secure access to this data, bringing it even closer to the tactical edge by leveraging the agility of software-enabled techniques. Military planners need to consider how to provide this same 5G speed, flexibility, and uninterrupted data access to all users, no matter the location.

By Jeff Lessner, Vice President, Defense and Intelligence Systems Division, Hughes Network Systems.

Walking the floors and attending the sessions at the Satellite 2022 show I found that the buzz within the military satellite industry continues to be the deep need for greater resilience in the Department of Defense (DoD) communications architecture. But discussion these days isn’t just about the need for it, it’s about technologies that can deliver it.

Defense integrators are starting to adopt 5G technology for satellite communications (SATCOM) on the move applications through various programs aimed at deploying commercial innovations more quickly to warfighters.

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. 

GERMANTOWN, Md. Hughes Network Systems and SES announced the first demonstration of a new multi-orbit satellite communications (SATCOM) capability for remotely piloted aircraft (RPA).

WASHINGTON. Satellite provider Hughes Network Systems and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet company OneWeb have been chosen by the U.S. Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) to demonstrate managed LEO satellite communications (SATCOM) services to connect the Arctic region to sites around the globe and facilitate tactical communications.