Ericsson, Leonardo and the Italian Navy have concluded a maritime connectivity test involving the deployment of an Ericsson 5G Standalone (SA) system between naval vessels during an operational exercise in the Gulf of Taranto.
The trial facilitated secure real-time communication and data sharing between ships as part of the Italian Navy’s Operational Experimentation (OPEX) 2-25.
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During the exercise, technicians installed a self-contained end-to-end Ericsson 5G SA network, which included Ultra Compact Core and Massive MIMO Radio Access Network products, on board the San Giorgio amphibious landing ship.
That ship served as the lead unit in the trial scenario.
The Multi-Purpose Combat Ship Raimondo Montecuccoli also participated, equipped with Ericsson 5G SA customer premises equipment.
The test relied on Ericsson’s 5G Standalone network alongside Leonardo’s NINE encryption solution to enable both classified and unclassified information exchanges between the two ships.
This included situational data from the Combat Management System and live video streams from 12 unmanned systems processed via Leonardo’s AI Brain platform.
Ericsson Mission Critical Networks head Freddie Södergren said: “This successful trial with Leonardo and the Italian Navy represents a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to advancing defence capabilities through 5G technology.
“As an integral part of Ericsson’s defence portfolio, our 5G platform is designed to meet the rigorous demands of the sector. This collaboration not only demonstrates the versatility of dual-use 5G in critical operations, but also highlights how enhanced connectivity at sea can significantly strengthen naval communications and operational effectiveness.”
The OPEX session assessed performance, security and resilience of on-board connected systems using 5G SA networks.
It further examined how unified 5G systems could optimise spectrum usage compared to multiple independent communication technologies that may operate on unlicensed or overlapping bands and face interference risks.
The demonstration formed part of the EDF 5G COMPAD project, which involved joint work between Leonardo and Ericsson.
The initiative also included several other ecosystem partners carrying out additional capability tests at sea within the framework of the Multi-Domain Operational Experimentation Committee.
In addition to this trial, Ericsson collaborated with the Italian Navy during 2024 NATO exercises by installing a complete 5G SA network at the naval base in Taranto.
