Android OS Gets Battle Tested for U.S. Army

[dgstorm]

It looks like 'Andy' has been recruited. The United States Army is testing a prototype combat-ready Android-based smartphone for use on the battle-field. The device is called the “Joint Battle Command-Platform.” A non-profit company called, MITRE Corp. is developing the system, and designing it to be rugged enough for combat operations.

For the device to pass the rigorous tests to be field-ready, it must have good mapping systems, secure and reliable communications with-in a unit, and an app to help identify nearby friendly forces. One of the primary reasons the Army wants to develop this system is to help soldiers distinguish between friend-or-foe so that they can reduce "friendly-fire" incidents.

Here's a quote from the BizJournals.com article,

Soldiers who tested smartphone devices recently at Fort Bragg, N.C., praised the app that identified local friendly forces with blue icons on the map.

“We can know where each unit is in our platoon,” said Spc. Randy Fite in an article on the U.S. Army website. “It makes the job a lot easier.”

Wow! Now, that's pretty cool... 'Andy' is gettin Ranger training!

Source: Android.net via BizJournals.com

 

[yahwarrior]

Seems to me like Android is becoming Skynet.

 

[xsylus]

Shoot the iPhone Users!

Enemy iPhone user detected :icon_evil:

This is a cool idea and it couldn't be done without Andy's open-source platform dancedroid

ANDROID FTW! :greendroid:

 

[Chizzele]

Talk about serving our country..

 

[Josefius]

This is awesome.

 

[hbah427]

What happens when the enemy inevitably gets the .apk of the file and is then able to find every single American base?

 

[Jeyman]

What happens when the enemy inevitably gets the .apk of the file and is then able to find every single American base?

lol i think its going to have to be a little harder then finding a APK to link into the app. Something tells me deep encryption and sign in(along with whatever else they can think of) will take place... Unless you just wooshed me lol

 

[geoff5093]

Any talk about the actual phone itself? It would be awesome to have a waterproof and rugged Android phone!

 

[Ohyea!]

lol, i just hope they don't suffer from the random reboot issues most droid phones seem to have.

 

[tnronin]

Any talk about the actual phone itself? It would be awesome to have a waterproof and rugged Android phone!

This! I'd be interested!

 

[johnomaz]

lol, i just hope they don't suffer from the random reboot issues most droid phones seem to have.

Your phone reboots randomly? Mine never has. Ever. Must be a level of knowledge thing.

 

[Graymayre]

Maybe this is to replace the slow and glitchy Blue Force Trackers we used, or rather failed to use, overseas. Of course, they have to figure out a way to transmit wireless and still be secure, with enough speed for it to be any use at all. Otherwise it'll be as slow as downloading WOW on dialup.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using DroidForums

 

[Ohyea!]

lol, i just hope they don't suffer from the random reboot issues most droid phones seem to have.

Your phone reboots randomly? Mine never has. Ever. Must be a level of knowledge thing.

Or buggy software/hardware. I'm far from the only one to have this issue. And it doesn't seem to be knowledge based problem. Almost luck of the draw thing.

 

[Graymayre]

lol, i just hope they don't suffer from the random reboot issues most droid phones seem to have.

Your phone reboots randomly? Mine never has. Ever. Must be a level of knowledge thing.

Or buggy software/hardware. I'm far from the only one to have this issue. And it doesn't seem to be knowledge based problem. Almost luck of the draw thing.

Yeah. I had that issue from day one with my D2G until I got it replaced. My new one hasn't done it yet. Call in a warranty replace. Reflash first, of course ;P

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using DroidForums

 

[BodyBagz]

Maybe this is to replace the slow and glitchy Blue Force Trackers we used, or rather failed to use, overseas. Of course, they have to figure out a way to transmit wireless and still be secure, with enough speed for it to be any use at all. Otherwise it'll be as slow as downloading WOW on dialup.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using DroidForums

Anything would be better than the BFT...but then again, BFT is better than having nothing at all.

I see a very early problem with this if fielded in-country...these type apps are going to require Data and GPS. Are they planning on operating a 3G/4G cell network, or trying to run this off the satellite/signal systems we already have? Coming from a Signal Unit, this is not a very good plan..
No matter what they use right now, it will have to be modified in-country to get around the wireless jammers we are constantly using now to defeat IED attacks...so I am curious to see what the Tech Aspect of this device is actually built around....