The three-year 5G COMPAD (5G Communications for Peacekeeping and Defence) project has officially concluded. Funded by the European Defence Fund (EDF), this initiative focused on solving a key technical challenge: how to securely adapt commercial 5G networks for tactical military operations.
A recently published article summarizes the results of this €37.1 million project. As a consortium member, BHE worked alongside 18 European partners, including Saab, Ericsson, Nokia, and Thales to help develop, test, and validate these new communication architectures.
Over the course of the project, the consortium conducted live demonstrations across five European countries to test multi-domain (land, sea, and air) capabilities. The tests confirmed that tailored 5G networks can function reliably in demanding environments.
Deploying independent tactical 5G “bubbles” in the field.
Connecting modern 5G networks with legacy military radios.
Maintaining secure communications in GNSS-degraded conditions
The concepts validated during this project are now serving as the foundation for the upcoming 5G COMPAD 2.0 phase, which will focus on turning these architectures into deployable capabilities.
