Lockheed Martin, Nokia, and Verizon Enhance Military Communications with 5G.MIL Integration

Lockheed Martin, Nokia, and Verizon Enhance Military Communications with 5G.MIL Integration
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 04, 2025

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), in collaboration with Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ), has successfully integrated Nokia's advanced military-grade 5G technology into Lockheed Martin's 5G.MIL Hybrid Base Station (HBS). This development strengthens the fusion of commercial 5G capabilities with military communication systems, delivering real-time information crucial for national security operations. The growing role of 5G in defense environments enhances battlefield effectiveness by complementing existing tactical solutions.

Strategic Insights

"The United States and its allies increasingly depend on fast, secure and advanced communications to access critical information and ensure effective deterrence against threats," said John Clark, senior vice president, Lockheed Martin Technology and Strategic Innovation. "5G.MIL integrations like this strategic relationship with Nokia and Verizon will help ensure data is seamlessly routed throughout the battlespace in ways that make future mission success possible."

Highlighting Nokia's technological contributions, Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, added, "This successful integration highlights the flexibility of Nokia's cutting-edge, 5G solutions to meet the unique demands of defense, ensuring robust security, optimized size, weight, and power efficiency, while supporting O-RAN and open, interoperable technologies. Through our work with Lockheed Martin and Verizon, we are bringing the transformative power of 5G to mission-critical defense operations, enhancing situational awareness, speeding up decision-making, and reinforcing mission success."

Demonstrating Cutting-Edge Capabilities

Recent trials showcased how Lockheed Martin incorporated Nokia's 5G solutions into the broader 5G.MIL Unified Network Solutions ecosystem. This included seamless interoperability with Verizon's network operations and management tools. The integration successfully merged conventional tactical communications with 5G, leveraging open-system architectures and commercial industry standards. This open approach facilitates rapid adoption of new capabilities into HBS configurations, eliminating vendor lock-in and ensuring future-ready solutions.

The initial integration took place at Verizon's Boston Innovation Center, where Nokia's advanced 5G hardware was combined with HBS components from Lockheed Martin's Valley Forge laboratory in Pennsylvania. The final phase of integration, testing, and demonstrations was conducted at Lockheed Martin's facility in Ft. Worth, Texas.

One key demonstration featured HBS connectivity with hybrid user equipment (HUE), enabling seamless transitions between commercial 5G and tactical LPx waveforms on Android devices without disrupting user applications. LPx waveforms provide robust protection against detection, interception, exploitation, jamming, geolocation, and spoofing. By integrating Nokia's 5G solutions with the 5G.MIL HBS and ensuring interoperability with Verizon's public 5G infrastructure, Lockheed Martin and its partners are advancing military, national security, and allied defense communications with enhanced scalability, resilience, and performance.

Looking Ahead

Lockheed Martin, Nokia, and Verizon plan to further expand their collaborative efforts by incorporating Nokia's 5G solutions into Lockheed Martin's 5G.MIL Experimental Network in Orlando, Florida. Verizon's existing infrastructure at the site will also support continued testing and integration. By leveraging 5G's high bandwidth, low latency, and secure connectivity, defense forces will gain access to real-time data, improving situational awareness in dynamic operational environments.

Future enhancements will include broader testing of hybrid network capabilities across diverse user devices, improved interoperability with tactical communication systems, and the development of secure public-private network configurations. These advancements will contribute to more effective Joint All-Domain Operations, ensuring warfighters and defense operators have access to faster, more reliable, and highly interoperable communication networks to support mission success.