Vodafone provides 5G to NATO's robotics exercise

This month sees over a thousand military and civilian personnel from NATO, the navies and partner countries gather for Exercise REPMUS 23, a robotics event which will test unmanned maritime systems in the Troia Peninsula, Portugal.

Vodafone will contribute by providing 5G connectivity and a dedicated mobile private network (MPN), in partnership with Ericsson, at the Infante D. Henrique Technological Free Zone, which is monitored at the Navy's Operational Experimentation Center.

During the event, Vodafone will present solutions that can be applied in defence and security environments, such as Asset Tracking for geolocation of assets in real-time, Push-to-Talk for instant voice communications, text and video, using different networks and devices and virtual reality for simulation of scenarios for fighting various types of fires.

A more reliable and secure connection

Giving the Portuguese Navy, as well as others involved in the robotics exercise, access to this network will allow them to test technological and operational concepts, mostly for unmanned security and defence systems, under the sea, on water or land and in the air.

In this military environment, the use of a MPN provides reserved, private coverage that ensures a greater connection for those operating in the area. It delivers reliable performance and protects the flow of data.

In addition, it enables the development of multiple use cases for the defence and security forces, such as the collection of operational data from sensors; the location and monitoring of people and other critical assets on the ground to ensure safety and operational efficiency.

This is on top of enhancing the security of each of the solutions used, at the network, application and device level.

What is the REMPUS exercise?

The REPMUS 23 exercise is an event organised by the Portuguese Navy, with the participation of foreign military forces, universities and technology companies. The aim is to develop and test new concepts that can be applied in security and defence in the maritime environment.

More than 25 Navies, nine NATO organisations and more than 30 companies and universities dedicated to research in this sector are participating in this year’s event.