Right now in Afghanistan, most U.S. infantrymen don't have a personal radio, or a way to digitally keep tabs on their fellow troops. One brigade has got the right gear - but it means strapping on an extra eight pounds' worth of radios and computers. But next month, 10 or 20 extremely lucky special forces will get another option to locate and talk to one another: handheld PCs that weigh a pound and half each.
The 5th Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division is currently using the eight-pound system, called "Land Warrior," on patrol in Afghanistan's Kandahar province. The rest of America's infantry units get by on a few radios per squad. It means that the average grunt is still largely left out of the American battlefield network that's tied together tanks and jets for years.
But if the DisOPS ("Distributed Operations") gadget works, that could all change. Not only does it let troops talk and send messages over WiFi, tactical radio and cell phone networks. Soldiers can plan missions and mark targets on digital maps. "Navigation tools help troops determine the range and azimuth between any two objects marked on the map. If they receive a target’s location by radio, they can input the code and the system automatically plots it on the display," *National Defense *magazine reports. It's even got a sniper detector built in.
"The system deployed to Afghanistan with Army Special Forces for six months" with " "reported positive results," according to the magazine. "About 10 to 20 more PDAs will deploy to the war zone next month."
But it could be a long wait before large numbers of soldiers are equipped with these battlefield Blackberries -- if they're ever equipped at all. After all, the Army spent 15 years and a half-billion dollars before the 5th Brigade got their eight-pound "Land Warrior" gadget suite.
[Photo: Lockheed Martin]
ALSO:
