Lockheed Martin, Verizon Demonstrate 5G Streaming For Sustainment Applications

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Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and Verizon demonstrated 5G streaming for real-time visualization content on edge computing devices to advance Department of Defense (DOD) sustainment missions.

As part of an ongoing strategic collaboration, the companies validated three key technology areas:

• 5G at the edge for latency critical interactions of complex visualization applications such as augmented, virtual, or extended reality experiences
• Streaming of real-time, complex, 3D visualization content
• Streaming to edge compute devices including tablets, mobile, Head Mounted Displays (HMDs), and more

These technologies enable Lockheed Martin's "Maintainer as a Node" concept, by which a connected maintainer receives all the information where, when and how it is needed in a latency-critical environment.

"Streaming is the future, and through our strategic collaboration with Verizon, together we're advancing crucial 21st Century Security technologies that drive speed, efficiency, quality and reliability where our customers need it most," said Marc O'Brien, senior manager of Virtual Prototyping at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.

This year, Lockheed Martin and Verizon focused on content streaming for sustainment use cases where advanced visualization capabilities are critical to supporting the maintainer with Resilient Logistics in a Contested Environment (RLCE). Examples of these use cases include:

• 3D step-based work instructions
• Augmented/virtual/extended reality content deployment
• Remote desktop of high-end, real-time, 3D applications scenarios
• Remote assistance and other 3D graphically intensive applications

The cases demonstrated a multi-user, augmented reality experience across multiple geolocations streaming a large 3D CAD airspace engine in real-time. The target display device was a HoloLens, which used the project collaborator Holo-Light's streaming platform along with Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength over Verizon's 5G network. The demonstration highlights the value of future streaming approaches for sustainment applications, ensuring that data is secure and content is efficient and effective.

"This effort demonstrates how Verizon's partnership with Lockheed Martin leverages the immense capabilities of 5G and edge computing to transform data streaming and AR experiences to produce advanced capabilities for military sustainment operations," said Chris Halton, vice president of Product Strategy and Innovation at Verizon.

This effort coincides with a broader collaboration between Lockheed Martin and Verizon to advance critical 5G.MIL® data-sharing applications for the DOD, improving security, resiliency, interoperability and performance with a combination of commercial and government-driven technology. This collaboration and demonstration are prime examples of Lockheed Martin's 21st Century Security vision to rapidly deliver game-changing capabilities to U.S. military customers.