Connected Warrior
Pentagon seeks 5G prototype proposals
The Army Contracting Command wants industry input for draft prototype proposals for wireless 5G technology testbeds to be located at military bases in Georgia and Utah. Proposals for two additional 5G test sites are also in the works.
The two requests were for proposals for 5G testbeds at Hill Air Force Base in Utah and the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Ga. The Air Force site in Utah will test dynamic spectrum-sharing applications, while the Marine Corps will test wireless smart warehouse and asset management applications, according to the command's filing in late November on beta.SAM.gov. The original filing was revised in early December.
The Dec. 2 revision sped up the response timeline for the proposals, changing an initial deadline for responses from early February next year to Dec. 16, 2019.
The Defense Department, in late October, announced four bases that it planned to test emerging 5G technologies. Those sites included Hill Air Force Base and the Marine Corps Logistics base, but the department also tapped Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state and Naval Base San Diego.
The Dec. 2 filing said draft requests for prototypes for 5G projects at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Naval Base San Diego will come "in the near future."
Along with the spectrum sharing and automated warehouse applications, the plans also call for a testbed for integrated augmented/virtual reality mission and training applications.
The Army Contracting Command, based in New Jersey, is running the prototype effort through a five-year Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) with the National Spectrum Consortium, a key industry/government/academia group for 5G technologies. The NSC, said the command, has a "uniquely qualified mix" of traditional and non-traditional contractors, as well as universities, investment firms and other groups that represent the "key players" in emerging 5G technologies.
The 5G plans, announced by DOD CIO Dana Deasy in June, will not only guide the agency in how to apply 5G in its facilities in the future, but also leave useable 5G infrastructure in place at the chosen sites.
This article first appeared on FCW, a partner site of Defense Systems.
About the Author
Mark Rockwell is a senior staff writer at FCW, whose beat focuses on acquisition, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Energy.
Before joining FCW, Rockwell was Washington correspondent for Government Security News, where he covered all aspects of homeland security from IT to detection dogs and border security. Over the last 25 years in Washington as a reporter, editor and correspondent, he has covered an increasingly wide array of high-tech issues for publications like Communications Week, Internet Week, Fiber Optics News, tele.com magazine and Wireless Week.
Rockwell received a Jesse H. Neal Award for his work covering telecommunications issues, and is a graduate of James Madison University.
Click here for previous articles by Rockwell. Contact him at mrockwell@fcw.com or follow him on Twitter at @MRockwell4.
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