DOD to Test 5G Technologies at Nellis Air Force Base

The Department of Defense has announced plans to establish its fifth 5G development site at Nellis Air Force Base, an Air Force installation in southern Nevada.

DOD's Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and the Air Force Warfare Center will jointly build a 5G cellular network at the base, C4ISRNET reported.

''The Defense Department recognizes 5G technology is vital to maintaining America's military and economic advantages,'' DOD 5G Director Joseph Evans said in a press release.

The project is part of the Pentagon's plan to develop 5G technologies for both defense and civilian purposes. 

DOD previously announced plans to conduct 5G technology prototyping and testing at Hill AFB, Utah; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia; and Naval Base San Diego, California. 

Evans said the construction at Nellis AFB is expected to start July and the facility will be fully operational by January 2021. C4ISRNET reported that the private network will only be used for mobile testing as part of a project that will continue in three 12-month phases. 

The Pentagon also announced that it will seek commercial software prototypes through the Information Warfare Research Project, an industry consortium. 

IWRP will conduct and manage a Prototype Other Transactional Authority process, through which its member companies may provide prototype proposals.

The Pentagon said it will seek proposals related to wireless network enhancements and to applications and services for survivable command and control.

Network enhancement prototypes will test emerging 5G features such as network slicing and software-defined networking. Prototypes will also test interoperability with legacy and future network generations.

Survivable C2 prototypes will enhance C2 software used at Air and Wing Operations Centers to support planning and mission-execution functions. 

Such applications may include human-machine interfaces such as audio, gestures, augmented reality devices and haptics.