iPhone Used to Locate Friends, Enemies in War
A military contractor has created an iPhone app that would be beneficial in war.
Military contractor Raytheon introduced a special iPhone application during the 2009 Intelligence Warfighting Summit in Tucson, Arizona. This app is specifically designed for the military, able to track friends and foes and render their location live on real-time maps. The application will even provide a secure communication to each soldier, according to the company.
"We have developed a situational awareness application based on military messaging standards that provide multimedia access, audio and textual point of interest, free text messaging, collaborative planning, spot reports and emergency call for fire," said Tushar Patel, director of Advanced Programs and Technology at Raytheon's Network Centric Systems.
The New York Times adds to the story, reporting that the application--called One Force Tracker--can even be used by emergency medical technicians, firemen, police, and other first responders; the application works on any off-the-shelf iPhone. The NYT also said that communications resemble social sites such as Facebook, and field information is transmitted to a central computer.
Wired reports that Raytheon is also working on another application: an air-traffic simulator similar to Flight Control. This application will allow air-traffic controllers to practice aspects of their training while on the go.
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Texting while fighting, shouldn't there be a law against that, it sounds dangerous
No, the pilot needs to keep up with those Tweets.
While this sounds kinda cool, and I applaud Raytheon's efforts, I'm not so sure I would want to rely on an iPhone for planning troop movements, or for communications between soldiers. This is not a dis of the iPhone, but rather an acknowledgement that it is a consumer-grade communications device, not a hardened and thoroughly tested communication device suitable for use on a battlefield.
What some people still fail to realize is an external electronic device can never tell you Person X is at Y location. It can only report that Device X is at Y location. I don't know about the rest of you, but my phone does not distinguish me from anyone else or a trash bin, even if it says "I'm" in y location.
The concept has some merits, but the implementation is horrid. Such an Idea can only work if the electronic device is implanted into said person and is being transmitted with encryption (unlike the video from the drone!). Then just hope your security can stay steps ahead of the enemy from hacking the network. I don't want a computer system being hacked and making another Haroldo moment. "we are in Y city on a secret mission about to go after X cell...Remember folks at home, it is a Secret Mission!.."
on a side note.. Imagine your on a mission and its 3:00 am. Your about to make a move on a cell, and your iPhone rings. Playing the tune from the old flash video "come on mr. taliban turn over bin laden"...
In related news, Raytheon has developed an app that easily turns the iPhone into a last resort hand grenade.
What if your enemy doesn't have an Iphone? I could see a benefit for training, or maybe EMT services. It doesn't seem practical for a military application. Didn't some just hack drones with some "off the shelf" software? It would seem to me that something like this could be exploited and could be used against you. After all, nothing is "unhackable".
does it require 3G coverage? I don't trust ATT to even make calls, let alone tell me where the good guys are.
Also wonder if they would force the military into a 2year contract?
It sounds like a pretty cool idea specially if the mission is taking place in somewhere w/ cell phone coverage.
Though is developed by the military, I feels like it will be more useful for CIA, FBI, or SWAT.
Just like many people addressed above, I am kind of worry about the security of the network/device and the reliability of the device. Maybe they need to develop some device like Nike (for running) did and have it attached to the user to make sure the device is not holding by the wrong person.
One drop onto the ground and the phone is rendered useless. The good thing is you could easily destory it before your enemy gets a hold of your intel.
by the way... it will look very funny to have an iphone attached weapon.
hmmm... imaging playing an iphone attached M16/AK47/ or... in modern warfare 3...... hmm... I guess I will pass it....
lol
Oh goody... a prototype for short range troop radar.
Wasn't Raytheon involved with Land Warrior? Sounds like they took that app and ported it to the Iphone
What some people still fail to realize is an external electronic device can never tell you Person X is at Y location. It can only report that Device X is at Y location. I don't know about the rest of you, but my phone does not distinguish me from anyone else or a trash bin, even if it says "I'm" in y location.The concept has some merits, but the implementation is horrid. Such an Idea can only work if the electronic device is implanted into said person and is being transmitted with encryption (unlike the video from the drone!). Then just hope your security can stay steps ahead of the enemy from hacking the network. I don't want a computer system being hacked and making another Haroldo moment. "we are in Y city on a secret mission about to go after X cell...Remember folks at home, it is a Secret Mission!.."
True, but they can still send a couple snake eaters or whatever to that location and you better hope your not there.
Also this is a demo and they used the Iphone to demonstrate the tech of the programs the created and that it can be used on a simple device such as the Iphone. This isnt a GI issue thing, its a demo "hey look what we can do"
iPhone Down! iPhone Down! Over...We need assistance immediately. Anyway, how are they going to implement the device? On the person or weapon or what? What if they lose the device and they have no location of this person, then an air strike takes him out because he wasn't in the correct position. I wouldn't feel comfortable using this other than an entertainment device.
This sounds like UAV in Call of Duty. lol
What happens when an enemy soldier recovers one of these devices? They know where all the other troops are, and they can use it as a decoy.
And why the iPhone? Wouldn't something with well tested hardware be a better device?
so... the iphone has turned in to a backup grenade is the impression I'm getting from this article... seeing as how often it blows up in peoples pockets anyways, why not just chuck it at an enemy before it blows
While this sounds kinda cool, and I applaud Raytheon's efforts, I'm not so sure I would want to rely on an iPhone for planning troop movements, or for communications between soldiers. This is not a dis of the iPhone, but rather an acknowledgement that it is a consumer-grade communications device, not a hardened and thoroughly tested communication device suitable for use on a battlefield.
+1, However, this could be used by undercover CIA,FBI,DEA,etc.or as a tertiary level back up
I wonder if they ever considered the reliability of iPhone's battery
Secure and iPhone do not belong on the same sentence.
Either way, what if the family member did not own an iPhone...
It's called bft *blue force tracker*. Why have one of these for? Theres no way this can be as secure. Granted smaller, easier to carry, but not secure I don't care what they say. And um can't cell phones be traced.. Just saying. That's why it's also why the military don't like using regular gps, and use military gps instead. As it's far more secure. I don't see this ever taking off.
Now if it had military hardware, small like an ipod but much tougher. A self-destruct it's own satellite communications then this would be good. But in an off the shelf ipod.. um no thank you.
Great news I guess... and the iphone can double as a grenade when the soldier ran out! Apple got it all planned out!
And once you hack the shit out of ityou instantly have the enemis track you down amongst other dissadvantages. This is a risk they shouldnt take.
yep. Great to have military missions compromised on civilian devices. (NOT!)Works wonders for the enemy. Unless this has military grade encryption which could be broken at leisure with a captured device, this is a NO GO and I would NEVER authorize my soldiers such a device. Even military trackers are designed with a ZERO button to destroy and erase all information if capture is imminent.
From "Cover me, I need to reload" to "Cover me, I need to check my iPhone."
I have noticed a lot of posts about the military's lack of intelligence. Instead of putting you down or advising you differently, may I suggest a good read about the Enigma and the efforts of Britain/US to crack/cover of their tracks. Google would be a good place to start.
Well they could always use the iPhones as grenades
iPhone has a treasure of App, this one looks like a solid one. I came across another solid app called NASA iPhone sensor (developed by Jing Li) which could be more useful in the present times:
http://www.engadget.com/photos/nasa-iphone-sensor
I am sure Jobs would be feel more proud of this great product
Maybe they could make an app for targeting the enemy using a predator called iBomb