For the first time, U.S soldiers on foot patrol across Afghanistan can use secure mobile handheld devices and infantry tailored apps to access digital maps, set up and share routes, able to execute sudden mission changes, and store critical information.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) with feedback from soldiers is working on a program called “Transformative Applications” or TransApps to make it possible to connect to a network over secure military radios from smartphones or tablets.
The TransApp program is trying to develop a library of secure military applications that are as easy to use as commercial smartphone apps that troops can access on their military mobile devices. The program also wants to establish a business model for the apps that bypasses bureaucratic delays in acquiring and fielding new technology.
Doran Michels, DARPA’s TransApps program manager, said “The practice of mobile device management assumes the network will always be available and the devices will always be on the network, so the devices can be managed for security.
Michels further explained, “The high resolution maps can’t be downloaded in real-time, so they must be configured on the handheld devices, “He notes that when soldiers connect to a network, it is not over commercial Wi-Fi or cellular but over secure military radios. The DARPA team had to make sure that we could adapt to those waveforms and constrain data throughout appropriately.”
Michels, reports that the team recently created an app in partnership with the National Park Service called “SMART Triage”. The app lets unit level medics or first responders quickly document first aid for injured personnel especially in a mass casualty catastrophe to effectively and accurately be able to log injuries and treatments. SMART APP uses a 3-D mannequin that can be manipulated and marked up with injuries ad annotated with things such as medications given.
Source: American Forces Press Service. Go www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=121320 to view the article by Cheryl Pellerin.