Ericsson and Leonardo field-test 5G standalone network for Italian Navy

Ericsson and aerospace defense giant Leonardo SpA have successfully completed a maritime trial of an end-to-end 5G Standalone (5G SA) network, signaling a major leap forward in digitized naval warfare and secure offshore communications.

The trial, conducted Monday in the Gulf of Taranto as part of the Italian Navy's OPEX 2-25 exercises, saw the deployment of a fully functional private 5G network across a fleet of vessels.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) installed its Ultra Compact Core and Massive MIMO Radio Access Network (RAN) hardware on the amphibious transport dock San Giorgio, while high-performance Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) was integrated onto the offshore patrol vessel Raimondo Montecuccoli.

The exercise demonstrated the network's ability to maintain high-bandwidth, long-range connectivity in both day and night conditions—a critical requirement for modern maritime security.

Using Leonardo’s NINE (Network Infrastructure Native Entities) system, the trial successfully facilitated the exchange of both classified and unclassified data between ships, proving that 5G can meet the stringent security protocols required by military operators.

In a key display of the network’s capacity, the teams processed real-time video streams from 12 separate unmanned systems via the "AI Brain" platform.

The low latency of the 5G Standalone architecture allowed for the simultaneous management of these autonomous assets, providing a unified tactical picture for command and control.