5G and the cloud can transform military operations at the edge...

The military faces unprecedented challenges in today's dynamic and complex threat environment. To achieve mission success, warfighters need to access, analyze, and act on massive amounts of data from multiple sources and domains. They also need to operate in contested and denied environments where communication and network infrastructure may be limited or compromised.

5G technology and cloud can make a difference. 5G is not just a faster version of 4G; it is a game-changer that enables new applications and capabilities for the military. 5G provides high-speed, low-latency, and reliable connectivity for edge devices and platforms, such as autonomous systems, sensors, drones, and wearable devices. It can also enable intelligent orchestration, data management, and redundancy across heterogeneous networks, enhancing resilience and agility.

Hyperscale cloud platforms power 5G solutions for the military. The cloud offers a comprehensive set of edge capabilities that can help the military deploy, manage, and secure 5G applications and services at scale. Edge capabilities available today include:

1. Fully managed services that extend capabilities to on-premises and disconnected environments, such as ships, vehicles, or remote bases. This enables consistent development, deployment, and management of cloud-native and hybrid applications across the edge and the cloud.
2. Families of edge computing devices that deliver compute, storage, networking, and AI capabilities to the edge. These devices can run containerized or virtualized applications, process data locally, optimize bandwidth usage, and transfer data to the cloud for further analysis or storage.
3. Services that extend cloud intelligence to edge devices. IoT edge enables devices to run AI models, stream analytics, business logic, and custom code locally, reducing latency and bandwidth consumption. IoT edge also simplifies device management and security with centralized provisioning, monitoring, and updating.
4. Solution that secure IoT devices from chip to cloud. These consists of three components: a secured microcontroller unit (MCU) with built-in security technology; Linux-based operating system that runs on the MCU; and a cloud-based security service that monitors device health and delivers software updates.

One of the key challenges for the military is to ensure the security of 5G applications and data at the edge. That's where security copilots comes in. They use the GPT-4 generative AI model to empower defenders to detect hidden patterns, harden defenses, and respond to incidents faster. It can:

• Reverse engineer exploits
• Respond to security incidents in minutes
• Offer critical step-by-step guidance and context
• Quickly summarize any process or event
• Surface potential threats in real-time
• Anticipate threat actors’ possible next moves
• Answer security-related questions
• Expose security researchers to new skills

Security Copilot integrates insights and data from leading security tools, run on the hyperscale cloud and monitor multi-cloud infrastructures. In Microsoft 's case this suite of capabilities enables the delivery of a trusted and secure C4ISR backbone that stretches from the back office to the Joint Operational Area. When combined with the cyber decision support tools that are informed by Microsoft's unique global threat intelligence and more than 65 trillion daily signals, that is quite a force multiplier.