Kenneth Morgan, chief information technology officer of Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), said upcoming 5G infrastructure deployments to AFRC host bases seek to address connectivity challenges at the military facilities, GCN reported Friday.
“The addition of commercial cellular infrastructure consisting of macro towers, small cells and in-building solutions is a game-changer,” Morgan told the publication.
Verizon announced a follow-on contract under the Department of Defense’s Offer to Lease project in September to provide the company’s 5G Ultra Wideband service to seven AFRC installations.
Morgan said two-thirds of the command’s facilities nationwide lack network coverage or mobile communication capacity. He expects connectivity upgrades to help reservists collaborate in real-time to support aircraft engineering and maintenance activities.
The AFRC executive also believes the new wireless technology will drive initiatives to produce augmented and virtual reality systems for military training, high-definition videos for telemedicine and artificial intelligence-based biometric technology.
Morgan estimates that all host installations to be 5G ready by the end of 2023.