Pentagon contractors testing tablets, smartphones for military use

PanARMENIAN.Net - Shooting turtles or attacking enemy warplanes with game apps on an iPad is child's play compared to the apps two military contractors are planning for use with low-cost, consumer-grade tablets and smartphones, Computerworld reports.

For example, Harris, a Pentagon contractor with experience in commercial broadcast video products, is working on an app for Apple's iPad and other tablets that will allow a soldier on the ground to use touchscreen gestures to remotely move a camera aboard an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to find enemy weapons or troops, while watching what the camera sees on the tablet. The video information, combined with data about location and time, can be quickly transmitted using Harris video technology to a network manned by intelligence commanders around the globe who could make quick decisions about military targets.

Meanwhile, Pentagon contractor Intelligent Software Solutions (ISS) is readying a field test for Android and iPhone smartphone apps that will tell a soldier arriving in a war zone what fighting and bombings have already occurred at that precise location. Geo-mapping on the smartphones would be super-imposed with historical data sent wirelessly from a command center, showing the locations and types of encounters - from shootings and bombings to arrests - to better prepare troops on the ground.

The applications from Harris and ISS rely on relatively inexpensive smartphones and tablets, company officials said, either from Apple or various Android manufacturers. Such devices might cost $300 to $800 apiece, compared to super-rugged gear previously used in military operations that can cost $10,000 or more per device because they can withstand dust, drops and vibrations.