U.S. Army Brigade Combat Team Exercise Demonstrates Value of On-the-Move Networking
Joint Tactical Radio System technologies and the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) seamlessly connect individual soldiers, ground sensors, aerial relays and vehicles to the company, battalion, brigade and higher echelons while on the move
WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. – During a recent U.S. Army Brigade Combat Team Integration exercise, General Dynamics C4 Systems-led programs successfully demonstrated critical networking and communications capabilities that connected command posts, on-the-move forces and dismounted soldiers. General Dynamics C4 Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).
During the exercise, widely dispersed Army units exchanged command-and-control messages, location information, voice, electronic chat and imagery while on the move. Using the Joint Tactical Radio System’s Soldier Radio Waveform and involving sensors, aerial platforms, vehicles and command posts, the seamless, ad-hoc networking extended connectivity to dismounted soldiers for the first time.
Android is no stranger to the battlefield, as multiple applications have been made with the platform for military operations. This time around, though, we’re seeing some hardware in the mix, the arm-mounted Android computer from General Dynamics.
The General Dynamics GD300 is an 8-ounce GPS unit that’s worn on the wrist, sports an 8 hour battery life, and has a touch screen that will allow a solder to navigate the device with their gloves on, which just sounds to be a resistive screen.
General Dynamics spokesperson Mike DiBiase had this to say about the device,
We expect the [device to] become the most important 8 ounces of tactical communications and situational awareness equipment that a warfighter can carry.
- 600MHz ARM® Cortex™ A8 processor
- 256MB DDR memory
- 8GB on-board Flash + microSD card expansion
- 3.5” 800 x 480 WVGA sunlight readable display
- Glove-friendly touch screen
- Fully integrated high sensitivity SIRF Star III GPS
- High gain quadrafilar-helix antenna
- Auto load moving map with pan/zoom
- 1550 mAH single cell Lithium Ion
- Hibernation and standby modes
- MIL-STD 810G
- IP54
- Flexible expansion docking connector
- Wrist Mount Radio Interface Kit (RIK)
- Four programmable radio control buttons
- Radio interface cabling system
Those are some pretty positive words to say about the device, and the OS for that matter. The GD300, which reminds us of the Pip-Boy 3000 device from the game Fallout 3, runs on a 600Mhz CPU with a 3.5 inch touch screen
, 8GB of flash memory onboard, a sunlight-readable display, and comes with your standard set of Android buttons.
The 3.5-inch touch-screen display lets warfighters move information around, zoom in or out or place digital ‘markers’ on tactical maps with the touch of a gloved finger.
The GD300 comes with military apps like the Tactical Ground Reporting (TIGR) System, which is currently being used in the military, pre-installed in the unit. Who knows if the GD300 will be the one military operations device that “warfighters” will come to rely on in the battlefield, or if there will be many different devices floating around in the future.
Either way, the GD300 looks like a good start, and the military praises Android for being so adaptive to their needs. Looks like being an open OS is more helpful that even Google may have thought. It’s cool to see that Android is being taken very seriously on so many different fronts, and it doesn’t seem like that will be slowing down anytime soon. We’ve already seen the Android car, let’s hope we see the Android Tank next.
WIN-T, JTRS HMS, Land Warrior, Command Post of the Future (CPOF) and the Tactical Ground Reporting System (TIGR) integrate very effectively and demonstrate the importance of the network to bringing critical mission data to the warfighter.”
* Warfighter Information Network – Tactical (WIN-T) demonstrating the ability to extend the network by connecting an aerial layer to enhance warfighter situational awareness on the ground.
* Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Handheld, Manpack, Small Form Fit (HMS) Rifleman Radios (AN/PRC-154) connecting squad leaders with their teams using Land Warrior Systems; as well as JTRS HMS Manpack radios (AN/PRC-155) integrated into command posts, vehicular Network Integration Kits (NIKs) and Manpackable Network Integration Kits (MNIKs) across geographically dispersed platoons.
* HMS Small Form Fit (SFF) radios were also integrated into Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS), the Shadow Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), Persistent Ground Surveillance Systems (PGSS) Aerostat, as well as the UH-60 and Apache helicopters to instantly extend the reach of the network.
* Command Post of the Future (CPOF) and Tactical Ground Reporting (TIGR) to equip command posts with command and control capabilities traditionally reserved for higher echelons.
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