5G In Defense Market Size 2026-2030
The 5g in defense market size is valued to increase by USD 7.96 billion, at a CAGR of 48.3% from 2025 to 2030. Accelerated demand for real-time tactical intelligence and situational awareness will drive the 5g in defense market.
Major Market Trends & Insights
- North America dominated the market and accounted for a 44.7% growth during the forecast period.
- By Communication Technology - Small cell segment was valued at USD 519.3 million in 2024
- By Product Type - ASIC segment accounted for the largest market revenue share in 2024
Market Size & Forecast
- Market Opportunities: USD 8.90 billion
- Market Future Opportunities: USD 7.96 billion
- CAGR from 2025 to 2030 : 48.3%
Market Summary
- The 5G in defense market is undergoing a significant transformation, moving beyond legacy systems to adopt high-speed, resilient communication frameworks. This evolution is driven by the operational need for superior situational awareness and the ability to conduct data-centric warfare.
- Technologies enabling low-latency communication and high-bandwidth connectivity are crucial for network-centric operations, allowing for the seamless integration of unmanned platforms and advanced intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems. For instance, in a multi-domain operations scenario, a private 5G network facilitates the sensor-to-shooter cycle by connecting aerial drones, ground sensors, and command and control systems in real time.
- This ensures that tactical intelligence is processed and disseminated instantly, improving decision-making speed by over 40%. However, this reliance on commercial-grade technology introduces a significant cybersecurity challenge. Adopting a zero-trust architecture is becoming standard practice to secure the tactical edge network against threats, ensuring the integrity of mission-critical communications and the effective use of augmented reality systems for field support.
- The development of ruggedized 5G hardware and specialized semiconductor solutions is essential to meet the stringent demands of modern military environments.
What will be the Size of the 5G In Defense Market during the forecast period?
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How is the 5G In Defense Market Segmented?
The 5g in defense industry research report provides comprehensive data (region-wise segment analysis), with forecasts and estimates in "USD million" for the period 2026-2030, as well as historical data from 2020-2024 for the following segments.
- Communication technology
- Small cell
- Macro cell
- Product type
- ASIC
- RFIC
- Millimeter wave
- Frequency range
- Medium
- Low
- High
- Geography
- North America
- US
- Canada
- Mexico
- APAC
- China
- India
- Japan
- Europe
- Germany
- UK
- France
- South America
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Middle East and Africa
- UAE
- Saudi Arabia
- South Africa
- Rest of World (ROW)
- North America
By Communication Technology Insights
The small cell segment is estimated to witness significant growth during the forecast period.
The deployment of defense-grade 5G infrastructure is increasingly centered on localized, high-capacity nodes. These systems, featuring massive multiple-input multiple-output antenna arrays, create a resilient network architecture for mission-critical applications.
Unlike traditional macro cells, these nodes are optimized for dense connectivity within a limited geographic area, such as a forward operating base or naval vessel, enabling a tactical bubble deployment.
This approach supports secure networking components and resilient communication links essential for electronic warfare systems.
The architecture facilitates a secure tactical data link for autonomous surveillance systems and unmanned vehicle communication, achieving sub-meter accuracy in asset tracking and improving command post modernization by more than 30% by enabling high-fidelity thermal imagery sharing and biometric data transmission.
The Small cell segment was valued at USD 519.3 million in 2024 and showed a gradual increase during the forecast period.
Regional Analysis
North America is estimated to contribute 44.7% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period.Technavio’s analysts have elaborately explained the regional trends and drivers that shape the market during the forecast period.
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Regional advancements are defined by the deployment of private 5G networks at military installations and tactical testbeds.
North America, for instance, is pioneering the use of high-frequency millimeter-wave spectrum for coordinating autonomous drone swarms within smart base environments, improving mission planning systems by integrating predictive threat analysis.
The development of ruggedized 5G hardware is critical for ensuring mission-critical communications remain stable during field operations. These initiatives support complex intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions by enabling a robust tactical edge network.
The focus on digital battlefield initiatives has led to a 40% reduction in data latency for ISR platforms. Furthermore, ensuring interoperability among allied forces through common spectrum allocation for defense is a key priority, enhancing the effectiveness of joint operations.
Market Dynamics
Our researchers analyzed the data with 2025 as the base year, along with the key drivers, trends, and challenges. A holistic analysis of drivers will help companies refine their marketing strategies to gain a competitive advantage.
- The evolution of modern defense capabilities is intrinsically linked to advancements in communication technology. The practical application of 5G integration in ground combat vehicles is enhancing command and control by providing real-time data feeds. Similarly, establishing secure 5G for autonomous aerial platforms is critical for missions requiring high-bandwidth video and telemetry.
- The core advantage lies in low-latency communication for tactical operations, which drastically shortens the response time in dynamic scenarios. Strategic use of 5G network slicing for military applications allows for the creation of dedicated, secure data channels. This is complemented by the push toward edge computing in defense communications, processing data locally to enhance the 5G impact on situational awareness.
- While these advancements offer significant benefits, addressing cybersecurity risks in commercial 5G remains a paramount concern, prompting the adoption of a zero-trust security model in 5G. The deployment of private 5G networks for military bases is becoming standard for creating secure, high-performance smart environments.
- These networks support applications like 5G-enabled augmented reality for maintenance, which has shown to reduce repair times by over 25% compared to traditional methods. Ultimately, the effective use of tactical 5G for command and control is a force multiplier, particularly when dealing with emerging threats where 5G network resilience in contested environments is tested.
- The combination of 5G and iot integration for defense opens new possibilities for logistics and asset tracking, while 5G millimeter wave for drone swarms enables coordinated autonomous actions.
- This data-centric warfare and 5G architecture is also being applied to specialized domains, such as 5G for autonomous underwater vehicles, and is fundamentally enhancing ISR with 5G technology through JADC2 implementation with 5G networks and enabling 5G for real-time video intelligence.
What are the key market drivers leading to the rise in the adoption of 5G In Defense Industry?
- The accelerated demand for real-time tactical intelligence and enhanced situational awareness is a key driver for market expansion.
- The drive for enhanced situational awareness is accelerating the modernization of tactical networks. The need for real-time data processing in multi-domain operations requires advanced tactical communication systems that support the full sensor-to-shooter cycle.
- The implementation of joint all-domain command and control (JADC2) frameworks, which rely on seamless sensor data fusion from disparate assets, is a key market driver.
- This integration improves the delivery of tactical intelligence to command and control systems, reducing decision-making latency by over 40%.
- The transition to data-centric warfare necessitates these next-generation military communication platforms, with battlefield connectivity solutions now engineered to handle a data volume that is ten times greater than legacy systems.
What are the market trends shaping the 5G In Defense Industry?
- The strategic convergence of 5G connectivity with edge computing architecture is a primary trend. This integration enables decentralized data processing for real-time military applications.
- A primary trend is the fusion of edge computing architecture with high-bandwidth connectivity, enabling decentralized real-time threat analysis and automated target recognition. This shift supports advanced network-centric operations where unmanned platforms and 5G-enabled edge devices process information locally, achieving information dominance.
- The adoption of this model has shown to improve data fusion speeds by up to 60%, a critical factor for tactical reconnaissance. This approach enhances network-centric warfare capabilities by providing low-latency communication for mission-critical systems.
- Furthermore, the use of augmented reality systems for field maintenance and training is expanding, leveraging the high throughput to deliver complex data overlays, reducing manual error rates by 15%.
What challenges does the 5G In Defense Industry face during its growth?
- The inherent cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities of commercial-off-the-shelf architectures present a key challenge to secure market adoption.
- The adoption of a software-defined architecture introduces a significant cybersecurity challenge, as network slicing vulnerabilities in virtualized 5G environments create new attack vectors. To ensure cyber resilience for defense networks, a zero-trust architecture is essential, though its implementation can increase network overhead by up to 15%.
- Protecting encrypted data streams across decentralized operations in contested electromagnetic environments is a complex task. Moreover, ensuring supply chain integrity for 5G hardware and semiconductor solutions is critical to prevent hardware-based threats. The development of quantum-resistant encryption adds another layer of complexity and cost, with initial deployments being 20% more resource-intensive than current standards for secure mobile communication.
Exclusive Technavio Analysis on Customer Landscape
The 5g in defense market forecasting report includes the adoption lifecycle of the market, covering from the innovator’s stage to the laggard’s stage. It focuses on adoption rates in different regions based on penetration. Furthermore, the 5g in defense market report also includes key purchase criteria and drivers of price sensitivity to help companies evaluate and develop their market growth analysis strategies.
Customer Landscape of 5G In Defense Industry
Competitive Landscape
Companies are implementing various strategies, such as strategic alliances, 5g in defense market forecast, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, geographical expansion, and product/service launches, to enhance their presence in the industry.
Aptiv Plc - Provides embedded 5G edge computing and secure connectivity solutions engineered for integrated defense platforms.
The industry research and growth report includes detailed analyses of the competitive landscape of the market and information about key companies, including:
- Aptiv Plc
- BAE Systems Plc
- Cisco Systems Inc.
- Elbit Systems Ltd.
- General Dynamics Corp.
- Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
- L3Harris Technologies Inc.
- Ligado Networks
- Lockheed Martin Corp.
- NEC Corp.
- Nokia Corp.
- Northrop Grumman Corp.
- NVIDIA Corp.
- Qualcomm Inc.
- RTX Corp.
- Saab AB
- Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
- Sierra Wireless Inc.
- Telefonaktiebolaget Ericsson
- Thales Group
Qualitative and quantitative analysis of companies has been conducted to help clients understand the wider business environment as well as the strengths and weaknesses of key industry players. Data is qualitatively analyzed to categorize companies as pure play, category-focused, industry-focused, and diversified; it is quantitatively analyzed to categorize companies as dominant, leading, strong, tentative, and weak.
Recent Development and News in 5g in defense market
- In September, 2024, Thales Group and Ericsson launched a portable 5G tactical bubble designed for rapid deployment in remote or hostile territories, enabling localized secure networks for expeditionary forces.
- In November, 2024, the United States Department of Defense announced the successful deployment of a ruggedized private 5G network to support the coordination of large-scale autonomous drone swarms in a contested electromagnetic environment.
- In March, 2025, Qualcomm Incorporated launched a new series of 5G Application-Specific Integrated Circuits designed to support the secure processing of tactical data for ruggedized handheld devices in the field.
- In May, 2025, AT and T and Northrop Grumman Corporation completed the first phase of a private 5G network installation at a strategic Air Force base, focusing on smart base concepts like real-time predictive maintenance for aircraft.
Dive into Technavio’s robust research methodology, blending expert interviews, extensive data synthesis, and validated models for unparalleled 5G In Defense Market insights. See full methodology.
| Market Scope | |
|---|---|
| Page number | 295 |
| Base year | 2025 |
| Historic period | 2020-2024 |
| Forecast period | 2026-2030 |
| Growth momentum & CAGR | Accelerate at a CAGR of 48.3% |
| Market growth 2026-2030 | USD 7960.7 million |
| Market structure | Fragmented |
| YoY growth 2025-2026(%) | 40.5% |
| Key countries | US, Canada, Mexico, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Egypt and Israel |
| Competitive landscape | Leading Companies, Market Positioning of Companies, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks |
Research Analyst Overview
- The 5G in defense market is fundamentally reshaping network-centric operations through a transition to a robust, software-defined architecture. Boardroom decisions now heavily factor in the necessity of a resilient communication links and a zero-trust architecture to counter the inherent cybersecurity challenge of using commercial technologies.
- The integration of edge computing architecture with high-bandwidth connectivity and low-latency communication is paramount for achieving real-time data processing, which directly impacts situational awareness. This shift enables advanced multi-domain operations, where data from unmanned platforms and autonomous surveillance systems is fused for tactical reconnaissance.
- A key enabler is the deployment of a private 5G network, often utilizing high-frequency millimeter-wave spectrum and massive multiple-input multiple-output technologies to manage autonomous drone swarms and support augmented reality systems. For ground forces, the tactical edge network is critical, facilitating a faster sensor-to-shooter cycle through a secure tactical data link.
- The development of specialized defense-grade 5G infrastructure, including ruggedized 5G hardware and custom semiconductor solutions, addresses the unique demands of data-centric warfare and electronic warfare systems. The market has demonstrated that such implementations can enhance intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data processing speeds by 30%.
- This ecosystem relies on secure networking components to protect mission-critical communications and encrypted data streams within virtualized 5G environments, mitigating network slicing vulnerabilities and supporting tactical communication for command and control systems.
What are the Key Data Covered in this 5G In Defense Market Research and Growth Report?
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What is the expected growth of the 5G In Defense Market between 2026 and 2030?
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USD 7.96 billion, at a CAGR of 48.3%
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What segmentation does the market report cover?
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The report is segmented by Communication Technology (Small cell, and Macro cell), Product Type (ASIC, RFIC, and Millimeter wave), Frequency Range (Medium, Low, and High) and Geography (North America, APAC, Europe, South America, Middle East and Africa)
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Which regions are analyzed in the report?
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North America, APAC, Europe, South America and Middle East and Africa
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What are the key growth drivers and market challenges?
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Accelerated demand for real-time tactical intelligence and situational awareness, Cybersecurity and vulnerability of commercial architectures
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Who are the major players in the 5G In Defense Market?
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Aptiv Plc, BAE Systems Plc, Cisco Systems Inc., Elbit Systems Ltd., General Dynamics Corp., Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., L3Harris Technologies Inc., Ligado Networks, Lockheed Martin Corp., NEC Corp., Nokia Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., NVIDIA Corp., Qualcomm Inc., RTX Corp., Saab AB, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sierra Wireless Inc., Telefonaktiebolaget Ericsson and Thales Group
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Market Research Insights
- The dynamics of the 5G in defense market are shaped by the convergence of advanced networking and tactical requirements. The modernization of tactical networks is a central theme, with a focus on achieving battlefield connectivity solutions that support digital battlefield initiatives.
- The implementation of joint all-domain command and control (JADC2) frameworks is driving adoption, with deployments showing a 35% improvement in data fusion and cross-domain communication. This shift enables superior tactical intelligence and supports the goal of information dominance. Furthermore, the establishment of smart base environments leverages 5G for operational efficiencies, reducing asset deployment times by up to 25%.
- Ensuring interoperability among allied forces remains a critical objective, addressed through standards-based resilient network architecture and secure mobile communication protocols that support next-generation military communication.
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