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Network Slicing a Key Use of Military 5G

NSA and industry officials are working to examine related security components for defense use of slicing.

Panelists discuss military use of 5G at a AFCEA DC luncheon.

As U.S. and global telecommunication carriers deploy more and more fifth-generation wireless network infrastructure, or 5G, in America and around the world, U.S. defense officials are examining the use cases for military applications of 5G such as autonomous vehicles; support of deployed warfighters; smart bases, warehouses and logistics; and cloud-related applications.

One feature that may be ideal for Defense Department use is network slicing, experts say. The ability to separate or “slice” a 5G network into subnetworks for designated users at specific security levels could prove to be versatile, explained Neal Ziring, technical director, National Security Agency (NSA), speaking at AFCEA DC’s recent 5G Luncheon.

“Slicing is a fairly new [concept],” Ziring said. “5G service providers can set up independent, logical networks across the same 5G infrastructure. We think that is going to be really important for defense use cases. They know to designate service onto that slice by certain users and devices, certain vehicles, etc., and then provide levels of security protection, isolation and access to particular networks only to the authorized members of that slice.”

Presently, Ziring and other NSA experts are working with a number of industry partners to help define what the security attributes of such network slices should be, so that Defense Department procurement officials can request network slicing abilities in 5G contracts, “and industry can provide them,” he said.

In addition to helping to inform international standards for 5G and making sure security attributes apply—through the 3GPP organization in particular—the NSA also is working on 5G-related commercial solutions for classified, or CSfC

Providing this NSA-specific support for CSfC is important to Ziring, given the NSA’s role in developing and managing CSfC. “We think that 5G is going to going to offer some compelling security advantages to help us provide mobile capabilities using CSFC,” he said.

And since many 5G systems are or will be considerably dependent on cloud services, NSA is looking at the integration of 5G networks with a significant cloud component.

“How are we going to integrate those?” Ziring asked. “How are we going to get the 5G services that we can deploy or that we can procure to interoperate with the cloud services that we build, or we procure? We at NSA are trying to focus on that area.”

NSA’s technical director also encouraged industry to share their findings as they delve into 5G-related systems. “It’s going to be very important to share security practices and experience as we start rolling these out,” he stated.

Naturally, telecommunication carriers have developed their specific 5G system architectures, but for industry and government, officials need to share the common architectures involved in integrating 5G services—whether it is for a military base, or a ship or a platform, Ziring emphasized—as well as share lessons learned regarding the integration of 5G services into the cloud. “Let's get together so that we can offer secure 5G services to our customers across multiple [organizations].,” he noted.

The Army, meanwhile, is opening up considerable funding to industry for its 5G experimentation efforts and is seeking industry solutions through several other transaction authority contracts, amongst other vehicles, explained Douglas Babb, G-6 senior program lead for 5G Experimentation and Integration, U.S. Army. Babb, who has been in his role for nine months, is working to define how the Army will progress with 5G-related environments, in part through sponsorship with the Department of Defense’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Research and Engineering.

“This is an exciting time because we are really on the cutting edge, the ground floor and we are setting the foundation for what we really want to do with [5G],” Babb said. “The Army is conducting two experiments, the Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) training suite, which is going to be conducted at Fort Hood, Texas, and the Command Post Agility, Mobility and Survivability Experiment, which is going to be conducted at the National Training Center.”

At Fort Hood, the Army is examining how to apply modular, deployable and secure 5G connectivity to currently available training devices, such as the Instrumentable Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (I-MILES) and the U.S. Army’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS). To improve and conduct mission planning, distributed training and operations, the service will test 5G for tactical edge use cases that integrate I-MILES and IVAS with AR/VR capabilities, according to AT&T, the 5G carrier for the experiment.

Meanwhile, the $40 million 5G command post-related effort, which is known as the Strategic and Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trust Systems (S2MARTS), is open for industry response through April 15, 2022. According to the request for solutions (RFS), the service is looking for a 5G network prototype integrated with tactical Army platforms, unmanned aerial systems (UASs) and other applications to support experimental evaluations on command post survivability and vehicular mobility. The National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL) released the RFS and accepting industry solutions through its website.

But those two experiments are only half of the picture, Babb emphasized. “The other side is the enterprise integration piece, which will involve classification and certification criteria,” he stated. “All of those components we are looking at right now. And what we utilize and learn from the experiments will help shape the enterprise side of the house.”

In addition, Babb's office is working to serve as a central organization that tracks what the Army is pursuing in 5G. “My implied task is to identify what the Army is already doing in the wireless and cellular space,” he explained. “There are a number of installations that are already establishing connectivity, and no two installations are the same. And not a month goes by where I don’t find one or two more Army stakeholders who are working in this 5G space. At times I am playing matchmaker, to introduce the stakeholders. So, we are trying to keep track of that. We are trying to create some synergy and integration and capabilities to tie some of these efforts together.”