The Army
has its eyes set on introducing Smartphones
into combat. This has been on the Army’s
radar for a few years but now with the budget becoming more of an issue, the
Army realized that they need to begin buying smartphones now. Pending final approval from the Department of Defense, soldiers in the 10th Mountain
have been training with the new technology in preparation for their upcoming
deployment. Soldiers have said that it
is a ‘game changer’ because you are able to mark locations of roadside bombs,
share intelligence and even communicate with others on the network via text
message. You may be wondering well what
if you are in the mountains of Afghanistan, the reception must be spotty at
best. Well, as long as the smartphone is
tethered to a digital radio it will have the same amount of reception as that
respective radio.
The
uniqueness behind this system is that it is small and has the same versatility
as well as similar technology to a blue force tracker but on a much limited base. Colonel Mark
Elliot stated that the smartphones “will enhance front-line communications as
the mission in Afghanistan shifts from combating insurgents to advising and
assisting the Afghan security forces.”
This sort of technology is just in time since the United States military
is currently trying to withdraw its military footprint from Afghanistan.
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| Soldier using technology on his chest |
The intent behind this technology is for the average soldier to carry this technology and afford them with the ability to see ‘the battlefield’ in the palm of their hands.
Soldiers will be able to see items that others have marked on maps, see their
left and right units, and even communicate with each other via text messaging.
Where do I see something like this going in the future? This technology could be used to track the
ammunition and supplies each soldier uses while on patrol. If a soldier is on patrol and gets into a
fire fight, after the fact they can report up to higher as to what equipment
they used and how much ammunition was expelled.
This technology can provide logisticians with the ability to gather this
information for smaller units and quickly refit them with the necessary
equipment for follow on missions.
This technology is new and still in its testing phases, but
units are beginning to use it as well as familiarize themselves with it. Hopefully in the near future, it will be the
new technology that is in the palm of every soldier’s hands.
This is a very intersting post. I think this would be a very useful resource and will help the soldiers on the battle field stay connected and understand their environment holistically. This will also serve as a great logistical tool to track supplies and routes. I hope this equipment will be successful becasue it seems like this can be the future for a capability based force.
ReplyDeletehttp://theragingtory.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/ipad-warfare.html
ReplyDeleteMy take :)
This is what happens when you wait two weeks before this class is over to write, your idea for you post is taken! Excellent blog post by the way. There are already a couple of phones out there used by soldiers. The main concern with using smart phones is keeping up with how fast new models are introduced, and how fast manufacturing of older models stops. New models require that the Army to change the software they use on these devices quite frequently; and the software can be made more flexible to fit several different devices. Unfortunately, such changes make the current system less secure; at least in its current form.
ReplyDeletei think this is interesting for a couple of reasons. For one, soldiers are already aware of the smart phone capabilities and how it works. This cuts down on the Army having to spend money for training. The second reason is that soldiers can use it quickly and effectively. Everyone is a professional at txting and communicating through a smart phone these days so talking to one another via the smart phone would actually benefit the troops.
ReplyDelete