5G In Defense Global Market Report 2022, By Communication Infrastructure, Core Network Technology, Network Type, End Use

Executive Summary

Major players in the 5G in defense market are Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia Networks, Samsung, NEC, Thales Group, L3Harris Technologies Inc., Raytheon Technologies, Ligado Networks, Wind River Systems Inc., AT&T and Qualcomm Technologies Inc.

The global 5G in defense market is expected to grow from $71.24 million in 2021 to $130.36 million in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 83.0%. The change in growth trend is mainly due to the companies stabilizing their output after catering to the demand that grew exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. The market is expected to reach $1098.69 million in 2026 at a CAGR of 70.4%.

The 5G in defense market consists of sales of 5G technology and services by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that are engaged in providing 5G technology and services for military and homeland security uses. 5G for defense is expected to improve reconnaissance, intelligence, and surveillance systems and processing, streamline logistics systems for increased efficiency and enable new methods of control and command. 5G in defense is used to transfer video, text, image, and voice data with faster bandwidth of 300 GHz to create data on demand for the battlefield.

The main types of communication infrastructure for 5G in defense are small cell, macro cell, radio access network (RAN). Small cell infrastructure uses wireless receivers and transmitters to provide network coverage to smaller areas. The various network technology in 5G in defense include software-defined networking (SDN), fog computing (FC), mobile edge computing (MEC), network functions virtualization (NFV). The different types of networks used comprises enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type communications (MMTC) for military and homeland security.

North America was the largest region in the 5G in defense market in 2021. Asia Pacific region is predicted to record fastest growth over the forecast period. The regions covered in this report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.

The increasing use of autonomous systems and connected devices is expected to propel the growth of 5G in defense market during the forecast period. According to the Artificial Intelligence and National Security published by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) in November 2020, the US Army intended to deploy a variety of robotic combat vehicles (RCVs) with various autonomous capabilities, such as navigation, surveillance, and IED removal. These devices would accompany the optionally manned fighting vehicle. The Navy has also established the rapid autonomy integration lab (RAIL) to design, evaluate, certify, and deploy new and upgraded autonomous systems. The 5G network is said to have increased the efficiency of autonomous systems by providing faster speeds and greater bandwidth. Therefore, a rise in the use of autonomous systems and connected devices attributing to their better and enhanced performance using the 5G network is expected to boost the growth of the 5G in defense market.

The concern over data security acted as a restraint for the 5G in defense market in the historic period. The defense sector maintains confidential information and sharing that data with other devices could cause threats to national security. The defense sector would be unwilling to procure hardware and solutions from unreliable sources, where data security can be a concern. For instance, in 2019, the USA had banned the use of telecommunications equipment including 5G infrastructure from China based 5G provider, Huawei citing national security risk and an unacceptable risk to military personnel, information and mission.

Major players operating in the industry are undertaking strategic collaborations for developing new technologies for the defense sector. Companies are focusing on developing technologies like 5G new radio (NR) and cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology, which has high demand in the 5G in defense market. For instance, in February 2021, Leonardo, an Italy-based company specializing in aerospace, defense, and security and O2, a UK-based telecommunications service provider announced a joint partnership to investigate the use of 5G private networks in defense and security market. Leonardo Scotland-based innovation and technology incubator center will work with O2 to highlight the benefits of 5G technology. O2 plans to offer a secure 5G private network as well as a variety of industry 4.0 applications for the evaluation. Moreover, the Norwegian military is experimenting with 5G technologies, including advanced and demonstration programs including the 5G-VINNI project, which integrates and tests modern and stable speech and data systems in the defense slice. Many of these initiatives are being carried out in partnership with commercial stakeholders and companies.

In September 2020, Ericsson, a Sweden-based networking and telecommunications company acquired Cradlepoint, for an enterprise value of $1.1 billion. Cradlepoint became a wholly-owned company of Ericsson while maintaining its current name. Through this acquisition, the merged entity would be capable of increasing its 5G-enabled business offerings. Cradlepoint is a USA-based technology company that is engaged in developing cloud-managed wireless edge networking equipment. The company offers extended network access for military bases, disaster response and other agencies requiring highly secure and reliable access to mission-critical information and applications.

The countries covered in the 5G in defense market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, and USA.

Companies Mentioned

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes:

• Ericsson
• Huawei
• Nokia Networks
• Samsung
• NEC
• Thales Group
• L3Harris Technologies Inc.
• Raytheon Technologies
• Ligado Networks
• Wind River Systems Inc.
• AT&T
• Qualcomm Technologies Inc.

Methodology