How Will the Military Use 5G? A New Drone Experiment Offers Clues

Small copter drones can take video and pick up faint radio signals, but it still takes power-hungry data crunching to positively identify an enemy position. A recent industry experiment showed that 5G networking gear can bridge that gap.

In May and again this month, Lockheed Martin and Verizon used small camera-and-signals drones—linked by 5G to bigger computers nearby—to spot simulated enemies better than simple camera drones could do.