By Juan Pedro Tomás
AT&T and Northrop Grumman Corporation entered into a collaboration agreement to research and develop a digital battle network, powered by the carrier’s 5G and Northrop Grumman’s advanced mission systems, to support the US Department of Defense (DoD).
Under the terms of the collaboration deal, Northrop Grumman and AT&T plan to deliver a scalable and open architecture solution that will help the DoD connect distributed sensors, shooters and data from all domains, terrains and forces.
The US telco said that this digital battle network is expected to bring together the high speeds, low latency and cybersecurity protections of private 5G networks with the flexibility and scalability of AT&T’s commercial 5G capabilities and offer a critical capability to support the DoD’s vision for Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2).
“Our collaboration with AT&T brings together some of the best capabilities in defense and commercial communications to meet the evolving requirements of JADC2,” said vice president and general manager, Networked Information Solutions division, Northrop Grumman, Ben Davies. “The enhanced connectivity and networking of information that 5G provides are a great advantage in a military environment and will help the DoD in the development of high-performing and intuitive technologies that quickly and seamlessly share data across a myriad of secure networks.”
“Our 5G capabilities can help the Department of Defense achieve operational and information advantage when it matters most — protecting our country and freedoms around the globe,” said client executive vice president of Defense, AT&T Public Sector and FirstNet, Lance Spencer. “By bringing our 5G services together with Northrop Grumman’s powerful avionics and defense systems, we expect to create an ideal platform to deliver DoD’s JADC2 vision.”
The agreement establishes a joint research and development framework to prototype, demonstrate and test AT&T’s commercial 5G networking capabilities integrated with Northrop Grumman’s portfolio.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees, the firm is one of the world’s largest weapons manufacturers and military technology providers.
