Europe to fund 5G research for defence applications
Saab is taking part in the 5G COMPAD project. Its existing 5G products include the DeployNet system. (Photo: Saab)
The European Defence Fund's 5G COMPAD project will bring together suppliers from 12 countries to work on future military communications systems.
The European Defence Fund (EDF) has launched a new project, 5G COMPAD (5G Communications for Peacekeeping and Defence), in collaboration with EU-based 5G companies and researchers.
It aims to provide European armed forces with resilient multi-dimensional communication systems, displaying improved functionality and life cycle cost advantages over existing networks.
The 5G COMPAD project brings together vendors, technology companies, SMEs, defence system integrators, research institutes and mobile network operators from 11 EU member states and Norway.
Project consortium members are Saab, Ericsson, Rheinmetall, Bittium, Nokia, Thales, Leonardo, Inster, Eightbells, Intracom Defense, CAFA Tech, Telenor, SINTEF, FFI, LMT, AIT, Synkzone, BHE and APR Technologies. Additionally, the project is supported by ten governments and defence ministries.
Kicked-off on 1 December in Stockholm, the project will run for 36 months. Work includes prototyping, testing and demonstrating operational capabilities of 5G integrated with defence platforms and systems
It will also examine how commercial mobile communications technology can support sustained information and operational superiority for defence forces and cover the need for high-level cyber and information security.
Expected outcomes include strengthened resilience and technological sovereignty of the EU, information superiority and increased tactical interoperability of European defence forces.
The overall 5G COMPAD project budget is €37.1 million, which €27 million is co-funded by the EDF.
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