United States Military Tests Customized Android

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You wouldn’t think that a smartphone would be part of a standard military package, but when you stop and think about it, you’d see how the sheer Swiss Army-style nature of a smartphone just might be more useful than you’d think. And that’s exactly what’s currently going on with some tests involving the 82nd Airborne, outdoor facilities at Fort Bragg, and a custom Android smartphone.

The Androids in question are running a couple of recently developed Android apps for military consumption–namely the Joint Battle Command Platform and Tactical Ground Reporting. And before you ask, forget about getting these for your next paintball match, because you won’t find them on the Android Market.

What these two apps do is pretty simple, and highly useful. Basically, one (most likely Joint Battle Command Platform) gives troops access to a GPS-based map of their surroundings. Tactical Ground Reporting, meanwhile, most likely allows troops to send pictures and other information back and forth. The phones also run on the military’s own WIN-T network, which apparently does not have a big history of dropped calls, so that’s another plus in its favor.

It’s not at all surprising to see something like this–I personally remember the sheer unalloyed joy of my first go-round with a Nexus One, in which I announced to the phone that I wanted to find Italian restaurants near me, and then, it not only made me a list, but selecting one gave me a GPS-driven map from where I was at the time to where one of those restaurants was. So it’s not at all tough to believe that a newer Android can route soldiers where they need to go and let them pass photos and notes when they get there.

And since smartphones today have more power than some whole computers did back three or four decades ago, it really doesn’t surprise me. But still, anything that helps keep the troops safe is good enough by me.