Jane Edwards
AT&T and Lockheed Martin conducted a test in August and achieved an 80 percent reduction in transfer time of health and usage data for analysis from a Sikorsky-built UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter to the 5G.MIL multisite pilot network using AT&T’s 5G private cellular network.
The test demonstrated the interoperability between the 5G.MIL network and private cellular network and the capability of the technologies to improve aircraft readiness and speed up maintenance operations in support of warfighters, the two companies said in a joint release published Friday.
“These 5G capabilities deployed at scale are expected to enable high-speed, secure-data transfer on virtually any flight line, providing another example of how we’re advancing our 21st Century Security vision by improving customer readiness and operations,” said Dan Rice, vice president of 5G.MIL programs at Lockheed.
Aircraft crews were able to reduce the time of extracting and transferring data from the helicopter’s Integrated Vehicle Health Management System to Sikorsky’s local networks for processing and analysis from about 30 minutes to less than 5 minutes using 5G technologies.
IVHMS helps ensure aircraft readiness by capturing, monitoring and assessing data generated by the aircraft as a result of flight maneuvers. The system also tracks temperature and vibration of aircraft components and gathers information on aircraft limit exceedances using sensors aboard the helicopter.
“Timely and secure transfer and analysis of mission and operations data are critical to military readiness and effectiveness,” said Lance Spencer, client executive VP, defense, AT&T Public Sector and FirstNet.
“This is one of many areas of commercial 5G innovation we are exploring to support defense, commercial aviation, and related fields where our 5G-related services can modernize legacy processes and help deliver truly transformational benefits,” Spencer added.
