eess.SPMay 31, 2026

A Communication-Centric 6G-LLM Architecture for Scalable Tactical Autonomous Defense Vehicle Networks

Authors: Kiran KhurshidShumaila JavaidNasir Saeed

Abstract

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and emerging 6G networks introduces new opportunities for scalable coordination in tactical autonomous vehicle systems. This paper proposes a communication-centric hierarchical architecture for Tactical Autonomous Defense Vehicle Networks (TADVNs) that models the integration of edge-assisted Large Language Model (LLM) reasoning with 6G-enabled connectivity and semantic communication. The framework is designed to improve coordination efficiency, reduce communication overhead, and enhance latency resilience under increasing fleet-scale operation. Unlike conventional task-specific AI pipelines that rely on structured feature processing and rule-based coordination, the proposed approach incorporates semantic abstraction and context-aware decision support within a layered edge-cloud communication architecture. We evaluate communication and coordination performance via Monte Carlo simulations across fleet sizes of 5-30 vehicles under contested network conditions. Results indicate that at a 30-vehicle scale, the 6G-LLM configuration achieves 75.2% latency reduction (29.1 ms vs. 117.5 ms), a 68.7 percentage point increase in mission success rate (82.9% vs. 14.2%), and an 88.6% reduction in communication overhead compared to a 5G-based conventional AI baseline. These findings demonstrate measurable benefits in coordination and communication when semantic reasoning is combined with low-latency 6G connectivity.

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