An important trend in U.S. spectrum management is the deepening collaboration between the Department of Defense (DoD) and other stakeholders in enabling shared access to wireless frequencies. Rather than outright transfer of federal spectrum to private-sector users, the future is likely to build on the model of the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), applying ever-more sophisticated sharing techniques to give optimal outcomes for both national security and commercial or societal interests.

The military controls large amounts of radio spectrum, using it for a diverse and growing set of applications. Realtime communications are central to terrestrial, airborne, naval and space forces. Multiple sensing functions – notably radar, but also signals intelligence and monitoring – are also used extensively in connection with domestic security. As recently as July, military radar systems detected Russian and Chinese violation of U.S. airspace which necessitated the scrambling of U.S. fighter jets.