EchoStar-owned Hughes Network Systems secured a $6.5 million contract from the US Department of Defence (DoD) to test a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) on a 5G open RAN network at a US Army base, which marked the latest in a series of military government contracts it has won.

The test at US Army base Fort Bliss in the state of Texas is aimed at exploring the advantages of near real-time control of the RAN using a RIC. It includes trialling RIC-based software applications for use across military networks.

The 5G Open RAN prototype equipment will be installed at Fort Bliss to operate a temporary network for evaluation purposes.

That network will transition to serve as part of the Hughes commercial network supporting both DoD and commercial customers in and around the Army base.

The prototype project is a joint effort between the US Army, the DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO), and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

Dan Rasmussen, SVP, North American Enterprise at Hughes Network Systems, stated the Fort Bliss programme “will pave the way for further RIC exploration, enhancing network performance for both US government and commercial applications”.

Hughes is the primary contractor for the project, which includes demonstrating, qualifying, and integrating a RIC into the test network across the open RAN infrastructure. The programme will also use engineering expertise and 5G spectrum from EchoStar-owned Boost Mobile.

The primary use case is testing the ability to change spectrum at the 5G control node. Hughes noted that capability has “real world relevance to resilient communications for a mobile command post”.

The prototype programme will serve as a testing ground for developing new open RAN RIC tactical applications ahead of applying them across additional installations. It will also create a training site for both civilian and military technical staff.

In March, EchoStar won contract extensions from the DoD for open RAN-based private 5G networks across several military installations.