Tablets, I-Pads and other such

[buglerbilly]

Ministry of Defence

SBL has been a strategic supplier to MoD for over 22 years. SBL was delighted to be awarded both parts of the contract that we tendered for. As we are on both lots we can provide one point of contact for all customers needs.

NEWS!

SBL is delighted to support the Joint Asset Management and Engineering Solution (JAMES) Project with the delivery of 12,500 fully ruggedised, encrypted tablets. This project will run over the next 7-10 years.

To support JAMES Project, Information Assurance specialist SBL has worked closely with partner Getac to deliver fully encrypted ruggedised tablets to the UK MoD.

SBL will also provide associated peripherals, software and services to meet the MoD's needs. SBL has vast experience developing bundles and bespoke solutions and offers a fully managed encryption service, including compatibility testing, to meet our customers' requirements.

Getac manufacture rugged laptop and tablet computers that meet military specifications. Getac offers customisation services to ensure your exact needs are met. Click here to read more.

Click here to read more about SBL & Getac's comprehensive encrypted computing solutions.

To talk to SBL's IA, Professional Services or Hardware Specialists call 01347 812100.

Procuring through SBL

The trusted relationships we have generated over the years enable greater cohesion and innovation between SBL the contracting authority and our customers and enables us to proactively drive initiatives that underpin and enhance the value and visibility of the Framework Agreements.

Why use the DE&S Catalogue?

•Tightly controlled framework
•Only specialist security framework
•Approved by DE&S, OGC, CESG and Cabinet Office
•Simplifies Procurement Process
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◦Automation of Processes leading to decrease in purchasing cycle timescales
◦Improved certainty of cash-flow
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◦Full order history
◦Custom P2P uploads

Why SBL?:

•Over 20 years of continuous and uninterrupted experience of operating in the UK Public Sector
•We have a mature and extensive relationship with the DII project and with ATLAS Consortium
•In the face of strong competition we have retained market share is evidence of: ◦Our ability to offer highliy competitive prices
◦Consistently excellent service

•DOBUS - an innovative, secure, resilient and internet independant system for the delivery of anti-virus and software product updates
•First Microsoft DII Enterprise Agreement ◦£45m cost saving for the MoD

[buglerbilly]

iPads Now Helping Marines Unleash Hell

By Mark Riffee September 16, 2011 | 11:51 am



When Marines are in a firefight in Afghanistan and need back up, they call in helicopters to blast the enemy from the sky. Sounds simple enough, but it’s not — according to current standard operating procedures for close-air strikes, ground troops radio coordinates to a pilot who then has to rifle through 60 to 80 pounds of maps to find the building he’s supposed to hit. Radio signals cut out, coordinates get jumbled and, even with half a grown man’s weight in maps in the cockpit, sometimes the pilot doesn’t have a detailed image of the target area. But this may all change soon.

The Marines recently took a baby step towards a more efficient future when the 3rd Aircraft Wing bought 32 iPads. The total purchase — not quite $20,000 worth of tablets and accessories, according to Defense News — was merely “a hiccup in the grand scheme of defense spending,” a former deputy G-3 for operations pointed out. But it could be a crucial advance in aerial warfare.

Capt. Jim Carlson, a Cobra pilot in a Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA), is responsible for piquing the interest of his higher-ups. He was annoyed with the current communication system so he decided to mess around with his personal iPad, which he discovered could be digitally linked to troops on the ground. All 80 cartographical pounds could be easily uploaded to the device and manipulated like any other map app — broad area maps hyperlinked to detailed sections.

The brass was wary when they first heard what Carlson and his fellow pilots were up to at Camp Bastion in Helmand province. They weren’t sure if a commercial product was secure enough to handle in-combat transmissions (though only non-classified maps were being stored on the devices). But about a year later, the brass appears to be on-board — at least on a trial-basis — and the commanding officer of HMLA-267 told Defense News that iPads have sped up communications by about 15 minutes during close-air missions. Now ground and air can simply confirm they are fingering the same building on their tablet and fire.

Tablets are not new on the military scene — air controllers have been using them for several years now. But these devices are the dinosaurs of the evolutionary timeline of tablets. Military officials have been pushing for the incorporation of updated smart devices in combat situations, but no real progress has been made as of yet. Maybe the Marines’ $20,000-gamble will be a first victory.

If iPads are as effective in aerial strikes as hoped, it’s easy to imagine that helicopters will soon be fitted with tablets or, more likely, a similar system will be mounted on their control panels.

The innovation curve would likely be pretty steep in the military tablet realm just as it is in the consumer market. Software developers have already come up with a variety of apps geared toward military efficacy, including a few that can differentiate friendlies from insurgents, and Darpa is hard at work on a way to keep smart devices powered-up during lengthy missions.

It’s nice to know the military is learning to navigate with devices and apps like the ones my friends and I use to zero in on, say, a coffee shop we’ve never been to. Now we just have to make sure the Department of Defense restricts access to Angry Birds and Pocket Frogs during missions.

Photo: Cpl Rashaun X. James USMC

[ADMk2]

iPads Now Helping Marines Unleash Hell

The brass was wary when they first heard what Carlson and his fellow pilots were up to at Camp Bastion in Helmand province. They weren’t sure if a commercial product was secure enough to handle in-combat transmissions (though only non-classified maps were being stored on the devices). But about a year later, the brass appears to be on-board — at least on a trial-basis — and the commanding officer of HMLA-267 told Defense News that iPads have sped up communications by about 15 minutes during close-air missions. Now ground and air can simply confirm they are fingering the same building on their tablet and fire.

Not secure enough? Bah, every Apple user knows that Apple products are the most secure devices in the whole world! They are so secure they are impervious to security breaches, malware or any other nasty hurtful actions that those stupid "Windows Sheeple" always complain about...

[JimWH]

Being less of a whinny bitch (my iMac will crush you ADM, you sheeple), there is a valid point here. If you're using unrestricted maps, and merely using it as an aid to secure coms... is there really a problem? Sure you can hack into these basic networks pretty easily but:
1). You can pretty easily use relatively high grade crypto (64 bit) on civilian devises set with day-to-day codes and still communicate in real time using the current generation of hand-helds.
2). These coms can be broke, but that takes time. If this is just being used to check coordination between the ground and the air as you're rolling in the risk of somebody having enough time to get into the loop ought to be fairly minimal
3). Even if you can get in, provided that you're using the tablet as an aid to secure voice coms... then it might not actually tell the hostile forces much of anything useful.
Obviously if you start using civilian devices instead of secured coms then you're asking for problems. And there are opponents against whom I wouldn't want to use this (though very few I can imagine us actually fighting anytime soon). But as a means of aiding secured communications, I think it has a lot of merit.

[BTW, we're having a similar argument in healthcare. Roughly "you can't beam around patient data over a wireles network!", to which my normal response is "So what, have you ever discovered exactly how easy it is to get into the medical record department?"]

[buglerbilly]

Aircrews use tablets as ‘electronic flight bag’

Devices such as iPads help cut paper waste but may pose security risk

By Scott Fontaine - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Sep 25, 2011 9:41:26 EDT


Master Sgt. William Greer / Air Force Capt. Brett Pierson, a pilot with the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, refers to his personal computer tablet during preflight checks aboard a KC-135 Stratotanker bound for Afghanistan.

The flight bag jammed with maps, performance logs, operations manuals and more is a thing of the past for a growing number of airmen.

Now, they carry tablet computers that can explain how to repair a part, show what route to fly and provide a little stress relief with a game of “Angry Birds.”

Air Mobility Command is taking the lead on tablets, using a variety to help lighten the load of aircrews. No more heavy manuals for maintainers to lug around or mounds of paper for pilots to sift through.

Aside from its light weight and portability, the “electronic flight bag,” as AMC is calling its tablet program, has the potential to save millions of dollars — from reducing printing expenses to decreasing weight on flights. The computers could go forcewide if they continue to be as reliable and cost-effective as they have been in the early phases of testing.

AMC’s program is the Air Force’s first instance of using tablets for official purposes, but countless airmen are buying tablets with their own money to make work a bit easier.

Lt. Gen. Darrell Jones, deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services, opted for an Apple iPad, which he uses as an e-reader, said Maj. Joel Harper, an Air Force spokesman. The slim tablet, which weighs less than 2 pounds, saves Jones from carrying around several hard-copy notebooks; it is not connected to an Air Force network, Harper said.

The Air Force, though, isn’t the only service hot on tablets.

Marine pilots are using the iPad to replace flight documents during missions in Afghanistan. The Army is looking at tablets and smartphones to help Army medics treat injured soldiers. The Veterans Affairs Department has connected 1,000 iPads to its network. The Federal Aviation Administration earlier this summer authorized commercial and charter carriers to use a tablet in the cockpit, replacing up to 40 pounds of manuals in the flight bag.

“You can save space, weight and have a better user interface” using tablets, said Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group, which provides aerospace and defense market analysis. “But there are some concerns about a backup plan. There’s nothing like paper when it comes to reliability.”

Cost cutters

The electronic flight bag pilot program began two years ago, and the first phase of testing finished in August. Another round of pilot testing will last through March. AMC plans a third round of evaluation, but the details haven’t been determined because officials need to evaluate the results from the first two phases, said AMC spokeswoman Capt. Kathleen Ferrero.

The content of the third phase will vary for each airframe, she said.

The tablets could slash expenses and free airmen from spending hours on paperwork.

AMC conducted a cost analysis in December and discovered that digitizing the content of flight bags could save millions in printing and fuel costs, and plenty of time by speeding up routine administrative tasks.

“AMC aircrews fly worldwide missions, requiring them to have access to information publications both on and off the aircraft as well as immediate access to various publications throughout all phases of flight,” Ferrero said in written responses to questions from Air Force Times. “Converting these publications from a paper-based system to an electronically based system can save time and money. Also, numerous publications being hauled in flight bags add weight on each mission, so Electronic Flight Bags can help increase fuel efficiency by decreasing weight.”

Air Force Space Command, which oversees cyber operations, has made 63 iPads available for AMC to test — but a spokesman stressed the “Air Force is not specifically or solely interested in the iPad.”

“Rather, the iPad is one of many that have both functional and operational benefits that new and emerging mobile device technologies bring to the table that are important to the Air Force,” wrote Andy Rourke, spokesman for Space Command. “Increased mobility is needed and we are working with multiple vendors to evaluate certified devices for use.”

Among the selection criteria: user-friendliness, reliability, cockpit ergonomics, portability, multitasking capabilities, security, modifiable display orientation, length of battery life, glare reflection and backup power source options.

AMC might eventually decide to purchase a mix of tablets that “provides the most effective solution for Air Mobility Command,” Ferrero wrote.

Apple appears to have an early advantage. The iPad is the only commercial, off-the-shelf device cleared by both the Air Force and the FAA. The Aeronautical Systems Center’s Engineering Avionics Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, tested the tablets in November for electromagnetic interference and cleared their use on all fixed-wing aircraft, according to contracting documents.

AMC declined several requests from Air Force Times to interview aircrew members involved in the pilot testing. In July, The New York Times reported that pilots loved their iPads.

“The iPad allows pilots to quickly and nimbly access information,” one pilot for Alaska Airlines told the newspaper. “When you need to a make a decision in the cockpit, three to four minutes fumbling with paper is an eternity.”

Security concerns

Tablets are commercial products, which would keep the Air Force from sinking millions of research dollars into developing a device, but they also don’t have the service’s stringent security requirements.

“Many of these devices do not employ, or are yet to be certified as having properly implemented key features such as data at rest encryption, complex passwords, support for Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and [Common Access Cards] for access control, or virtual private networks,” Rourke wrote. “Additionally devices built for the consumer market typically do not have support for centralized management, which is key to our ability to securely manage a remote workforce. These capabilities are all essential to the AF conducting its activities securely and efficiently.”

The service evaluates each tablet against the Defense Department’s Security Technical Implementation Guides. The guides for iPads and mobile devices are still under development, but the Pentagon released a memo in April that listed six major security challenges that tablets present: enterprise management; data protection; access control; DoD Public Key Infrastructure credentials; software and applications; and training.

None of the iPads being tested by AMC is connected to the Air Force network; documents are transferred from another computer onto the tablets, which are used as e-readers. An airman can’t check his work email or access classified or any information for official use only.

The Air Force is looking at “a number of mobile device technologies” for accessing classified information, but no decisions have yet been made. The service is also working with the Army, the Defense Department and the commercial industry to develop a reader for CACs.

Industry is also working to fill another void: Ensuring delivery of critical documents to each tablet. The iPad’s operating system isn’t designed to allow a host server to push the documents onto each tablet, but technology officials will want to track that the proper documents have been downloaded for each tablet.

“It’s true not just in the cockpit but also in health care and other industries,” said David Yeaple, chief technology officer of Odyssey Software, a New York-based company that specializes in mobile device management.

The FAA has concerns about theft of government data, forcing information and security officials to find secure ways to use the tablets. Software embedded in the technology can allow administrators to remotely wipe a device clean of all government data, control what employees download, and separate personal email and Internet browsing from government business.

FAA Chief Information Officer Dave Bowen has met with senior executives at Apple to hash out potential risks and security of the device. As early as September, the FAA could have an approved policy mandating security standards for the iPad before the tablets are in more FAA users’ hands.

The VA is also working the problem. It has also an Oct. 1 deadline for making tablet computers, likely to include the iPad, available for use on the department's network.

VA CIO Roger Baker said users will be able to view information through such VA applications as its electronic health record system VistA and from external sources, but the information cannot be stored on the device. Users must be authenticated before gaining access.

“VA is looking at the policies that have to be in place before turning the devices loose,” he said.

Staff writer Nicole Blake Johnson contributed to this report.

[buglerbilly]

Taking iPads into battle

Phones and other smart devices are being tested across all branches of the military. Seeing an opportunity, software firms and defense contractors are developing apps that will enable soldiers to pass along intelligence, view reconnaissance images or even pilot small drones by remote control.


Marine Capt. Jim Carlson uses an iPad while sitting in his Super Cobra attack helicopter at Camp Pendleton. The use of this and other smart devices is raising cyber-security concerns among military strategists. (Don Bartletti, Los Angeles Times / September 26, 2011)

As a Cobra attack helicopter pilot, Marine Capt. Jim "Hottie" Carlson was running support missions above Afghanistan last summer when it occurred to him that it was taking far too long to find where U.S. troops were under attack.

"Do you have any idea how long it takes to find the right map, unfold it, and find where you're going? It's agonizing," he said.

Frustrated that he had to flip through dozens of maps stuffed inside his chopper, Carlson, 31, loaded the documents onto his personal iPad, enabling him to zoom in, zoom out and quickly move from one map to another.

Carlson's brainstorm shortened the time it took to pinpoint a location from "three minutes to about 30 seconds," he recalled recently, and it soon helped change the way the military is thinking about warfare. The Marines now have more than 30 iPads in cockpits across their fleet of helicopters and fighter jets.

For soldiers in the 21st century, iPads, iPhones, Androids and other smart devices could eventually be as common on the battlefield as helmets, canteens and rifles.

These devices are being tested across all branches of the military. Seeing an opportunity, software companies and defense contractors are developing mobile applications that will enable soldiers to pass along intelligence, view reconnaissance images or even pilot small drones by remote control.

This high-tech hand-held revolution, of course, opens the military up to the same problems that everybody else with a smart device faces — security threats and concerns about dropped service. There are concerns among military strategists about passing military secrets on a device that can easily be hacked.

In years past, the Pentagon probably would have spent billions of dollars creating its own custom devices, but modern technology offers a much cheaper alternative, said Michael McCarthy, who leads an effort by the Army to test smartphones for use on the battlefield.

The Army is using iPhones, Androids and BlackBerrys in mock wartime situations in New Mexico and Texas.

Such devices are coming in handy in simulated security raids and checkpoint stops to take pictures of Arabic writing and gather biometric data, such as fingerprints and iris scans, McCarthy said.

"It's all about information gathering, and tools to make the job easier," he said.

The troops are also testing about 95 mobile applications, or apps, designed to help soldiers perform specific tasks with their cellphones. One app is dubbed Soldier Eyes. "Imagine that you're dropped in an unknown location on a moonless night," McCarthy said. "You open this app and through its GPS coordinates, it shows you where you are. It shows you where your adjacent units are."

It can also provide cumulative information about the region, he said, showing how many roadside bomb attacks have occurred and when they took place.

The app is being developed by Overwatch Mobile Solutions, a subsidiary of Textron Inc., in close collaboration with the Army.

"A typical soldier carries a map, a compass, a radio and a GPS," said Evan Corwin, a senior program manager at Overwatch. "This enables them to have all of that on one device."

In all, the Army said it has spent about $4.2 million over two years to develop the apps and test smartphones.

The Air Force and Navy also have pilot programs testing smart-device technology. But the devices are risk-prone and susceptible to security breaches that could threaten military secrets.

Internet security firm McAfee Inc. recently found that malware, short for "malicious software," targeting smartphones and tablets is on the rise.

The widespread adoption of mobile devices is likely to bring about "an explosion" of attacks, McAfee said. "Given our historically fragile cellular infrastructure and slow strides toward encryption, user and corporate data may face serious risks."

Critics wonder what will happen if a soldier's Android is hacked or infected with malware.

"The military is opening themselves up to serious problems," said Chris Soghoian, a privacy and security researcher at the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research at Indiana University. "It seems stupid to use a platform that thousands of people are trying to hack."

Storing data on the phones will end up disclosing military information, or showing the enemy precisely where the troops are through the devices' GPS transmitters, Soghoian said. "It's a recipe for disaster."

Symantec Corp., known for its personal computer security software, is developing a product called O3 that officials say could secure wireless military networks. Much of the company's planning will depend on how the Army wants to proceed on smartphone security.

If the Army was to decide to put a smartphone in the hands of every soldier, it alone would need to buy 1.2 million phones. That could be a major source of revenue for phone makers.

In the coming years, defense giant Raytheon Co. anticipates that the app market will be huge. The company, famous for building 2,000-pound bunker-busting bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles, will unveil an online store called Appsmart this year where military apps can be bought.

"We think that within three years there will be a major move in the military toward fielding mobile handsets," said Mark A. Bigham, Raytheon's vice president of business development for defense and civil mission solutions. "We hope Appsmart will play an important role in that initiative."

Commercial apps typically sell for a couple of dollars because they often sell by the millions. With far fewer made, military apps are expected to be more expensive and could sell for as much as $500 apiece, Bigham said.

The company has developed the Raytheon Advanced Tactical System, software that enables troops to share sensitive information on smartphones. It has also developed more than 20 apps. "There's a lot of companies large and small vying for this marketplace," he said.

Harris Corp. of Melbourne, Fla., has developed a miniature cell tower mounted on a Humvee that provides cell coverage to remote areas with patchy or nonexistent service. The system, named KnightHawk, generates connectivity by providing network signals for up to a three-mile radius.

"Troops aren't typically dropped in an area where AT&T and Verizon have coverage," said Edward J. Zoiss, Harris' vice president of advanced programs and technology. "That's where Harris comes in."

The company, which also makes military radios, believes that the services will use smart devices at the front lines in battle, and that KnightHawk will provide coverage. Harris has also developed an app called Eyes-on-Target that enables troops to share streaming video on their phones — rather than use radios and hand and arm signals.

Even drone aircraft may get a boost from these phones. Students at MIT and researchers at Boeing Co. have demonstrated that a person can fly miniature drones with an iPhone.

Imagine a soldier pulling a drone out of a backpack and then controlling it to see inaccessible spots on the battlefield, said Boeing technician Joshua Downs. "It is applications such as this that are helping to move the technology forward."

william.hennigan@latimes.com

[buglerbilly]

New mobile-ready guide for medical recording released

September 27, 2011

By Ray Steen

Story Highlights

• Commander's Guide to MC4 2.0 now available on ATN2GO app
• Specific need-to-know info for MC4 users on the go





FORT DETRICK, Md., Sept. 27, 2011 -- A new interactive guide to aid deployed medics, nurses and commanders in recording medical information is now available on iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android devices, according to the Combined Arms Center-Training.

In August, the Army's Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care, or MC4, program released the Commander's Guide to MC4 version 2.0 on the Army Training Network 2 Go, known as ATN2GO, app following its initial release of training materials in April. In July, the Army Training Network added concussion/traumatic brain injury training materials specifically targeted for U.S. units and Soldiers deploying to Afghanistan.

"Mobile devices are driving the Army's training delivery model," said Lt. Col. William Geesey, MC4 product manager. "By empowering deployable medical forces with the ability to get answers to questions on the fly, we are in effect improving their ability to make informed decisions on the health care delivered to Soldiers in theater."

Deployable medical staff use MC4 to document and track patient care, digitally manage medical supplies and conduct health surveillance in the combat zone. The new guide ensures a continuous, systematic approach to supporting the creation and transmission of electronic medical records and automated maintenance of class VIII medical supplies.

The initial version of the MC4 guide was only available in PDF format on computers via Army Knowledge Online. Now, the mobile medical force can use the ATN2GO app on their personal or approved iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or Android device to access best practices, guidelines and procedures for using MC4 in the field. Since August 2010, 3,863 Apple and 2,924 Android users have downloaded ATN2GO.

In addition to offering mobile access, version 2.0 the MC4 guide focuses more on specific guidance and need-to-know information, reducing the volume by 60 percent, making data retrieval fast and easy. The app allows users to create direct links to procedures specific to their specialty. The guide also synchronizes users to reference materials not included in the guide, such as links to updated checklists, policies, presentations and step-by-step procedures.

The first version of the Commander's Guide to MC4 was released in December 2009. Lt. Col. Kevin Werthmann, former health information systems officer for the 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan, referred to the guide as "a tremendous resource and a blue print for success."

For more information on ATN2GO, visit https://atn.army.mil/.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

Army Looking at New Battlefield Tablets

Posted by Paul McLeary at 10/20/2011 7:40 AM CDT



If you haven’t been following the Army’s Chief Information Officer’s blog, “The Leader,” well, then, you’re missing out on the one post a month they put up.

But you also missed an interesting bit of information posted earlier this week when Sergeant Major Kevin E. McCrary posted that while there are “several tablet devices” available for purchase by Army units since they’ve been approved for use on the service’s network, and have met other security requirements. But that isn’t new. What is new is that the Army is “evaluating the user experience with the Fujitsu Q550. We selected the Fujitsu for a limited participation evaluation because it fully meets all the security requirements,” he writes.

The Army has been testing a variety of tablets and smart phones for some time now, and will keep throwing new models into the hands of soldiers in the field. McCrary also says that the service has been in discussion with industry leaders such as Dell, HP, DT Research and other tablet makers, and is working to bring “Hardware and Software Vendors into a forum where they can present their products to a larger Department of Defense (DoD) community.” But iPads, as we all know, aren’t welcome to the party, even though some in the military have found them useful, and the Army is talking to Apple about using some of their products in the future.

[buglerbilly]

Harris Corp. Unveils New Battlefield Tablet

Feb. 17, 2012 - 05:46PM

By KATE BRANNEN


Harris Corp. will show off this new ruggedized Android tablet at the upcoming Association of the U.S. Army winter symposium. (Harris Corp.)

Harris Corp. will show off a new ruggedized Android tablet designed to keep soldiers better connected on the battlefield at the upcoming Association of the U.S. Army winter symposium.

Harris shared the new technology with Defense News the week before the AUSA event, which will be held Feb. 22-24 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The device weighs 2 pounds and has a 7-inch-wide screen, designed to be viewable in all types of weather and with night-vision goggles. The touch screen also can be manipulated if a soldier is wearing gloves.

It is designed to plug in to any tactical radio, connecting it to the broader network. At the company’s Washington offices, the tablet was tethered to a Harris handheld AN/PRC-117G radio, which soldiers are using in Afghanistan.

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Dennis Moran, now vice president of government business development for Harris Corp.’s RF Communications business, said the company used soldier feedback from earlier prototypes to help shape the design.

Now that the Army has made big strides toward creating the infrastructure for its battlefield network, it can begin to take a closer look at devices that deliver information to the tactical edge, Moran said.

He said Harris has not offered it in any of the Army’s Network Integration Evaluations to date, but that it is part of a system the company is offering for the exercise taking place in the fall at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Harris and other companies are still waiting on the Army and the Defense Department to provide direction on how applications will be made available to the military, Moran said.

In the meantime, companies are beginning to develop their own apps so that their devices can provide some basic capabilities to soldiers. Some of the applications running on the Harris tablet were from the commercial Android application store, including a popular chat function.

“This device has to have a longer shelf life than a smartphone,” so it has been designed to be able to accept future technologies or applications, Moran said.

Security for the devices, and the software programs that could run on them, is also still being determined.

Moran said Harris continues to participate in discussions with the National Security Agency.

[buglerbilly]

iBattle: Apple May Finally Storm the Pentagon

By Spencer Ackerman Email Author February 22, 2012 | 2:44 pm


Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos gets an iPad demo. Photo: USMC

The Pentagon is, for all intents and purposes, an Apple-free zone. Its desktop computers have long run on Windows, and now its tablets and smartphones are all Android. But there’s a chance that might be about to change. The Air Force’s Air Mobility Command is considering a monster purchase of iPads — one that might give Apple inroads into a military market that’s eluded it so far.

A recent solicitation from Air Mobility Command has the Air Force’s cargo and transport division seeking “a maximum of 18,000 iPad 2s” to serve as “Electronic Flight Bags” — essentially, tools to launch apps that digitize the flyboys’ weighty manuals. Even that purchase isn’t a slam dunk for Cupertino, since the solicitation called for iPads or “equal” devices. (Cue the indignation from Cult of Mac-types.) But if the Air Force even buys half that many iPads, it would still represent the largest tablet or smartphone purchase the military’s made thus far.

And it also could represent something of a reversal of Apple’s military fortunes. Last week, the Air Force’s Special Operations Command canceled an order of over 2,000 iPads, apparently prompted by security concerns about Russian software on the devices for reading PDFs of flight charts that double as encryption agents. As if to twist the knife, a spokeswoman told NextGov that the command “continues” to evaluate “the procurement aspect of providing tablets to the field.” In other words, they love tablets — just not Apple’s tablet.

That’s a familiar story for Apple. While the military is just getting started playing around with smart devices, it’s balked at shelling out for Cupertino’s mobile products.

In 2010, the military’s Special Operations Command wanted a suite of apps to get militarily relevant data out to their dismounted, networked commandos, including a “multi-touch whiteboarding aka John Madden tool.” They went with Android phones to host it. The next year, when the app-mad Army started playing around with its first smartphone linked to its new data network, Android powered it.

Later in 2011, the Army bought a bunch of commercial smartphones — as in, officers went to Best Buy and purchased 60 phones — to test out how they worked with the new data network. It also debuted a new quasi-smartphone to replace an old, funky plan to make soldiers wear computers. Yet again, in both cases, Droid did.

The preference was rarely made explicit, and behind the scenes, Army officials whispered to reporters that they didn’t want to make it seem like they were dissing Apple. And Apple had a few mobile military successes, like when Marine aviators bought 32 iPads last fall to help program close air support.

But the word’s gotten around to the defense industry. At military gear showcases like the Association of the United States Army conference, developers who come up with everything from insta-translators to mapping tools run the software they want to sell the Army with Android as their operating system.

So why not Apple? As the iPad cancellation indicated, there are concerns about data security — but in fairness, the Army hasn’t yet certified Android (or Windows Mobile, for that matter) as secure, either. The answer you hear most often is cost. Apple products are more expensive, which is why most government desktops run Windows and bureaucrats thumb their way through BlackBerries. Now that the military is facing a future of tighter budgets, iPads and iPhones might be too expensive.

But the Air Mobility Command is bucking that trend. Buying 18,000 iPads will make it the most always-on part of the military by a longshot. And since the Army wants to start out using smartphones for pretty much the same function — running apps that digitize its training and field manuals — it’s possible the Air Force purchase might spur a second look at iOS from the ground-pounders.

Still, the military isn’t ready to issue camo-colored coverings to iPads just yet. An Air Mobility Command spokeswoman said the 18,000 order may not just buy iPads — Motorola’s Xoom, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, and even Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-reader might be included in the Air Force purchase. And all those tablets have a certain competing operating system in common.

[buglerbilly]

Air Force Unit Cancels iPad Procurement

Special Operations Command had planned to acquire nearly 3,000 iPads to transfer paper-based flight information and technical manuals to an electronic format.

By Elizabeth Montalbano InformationWeek

February 23, 2012 09:00 AM

The Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) has shelved plans to procure nearly 3,000 iPads to help it do away with paper-based flight information and technical manuals.

The command disclosed the cancellation in a notice on FedBizOpps.gov.

AFSOC spokesperson Capt. Kristen Duncan said the unit cancelled the procurement because its acquisition strategy for it was not consistent with the way the Air Force generally acquires IT products and services. The command continues to evaluate the use of tablet devices for its personnel and will eventually put out another RFP for tablet devices.

"AFSOC's goal is to provide...an Electronic Flight Bag that is equally cost effective, secure and provides the best technological capability available to our airmen," she said.

Duncan added that the cancellation has nothing to do with a published report about the procurement's specification that GoodReader software--which was developed in Russia--will be used with the devices.

The unit had planned to procure 2,861 black iPad2 devices from an authorized Apple reseller to maintain and update the Department of Defense's (DOD's) Flight Information Publications (FLIP) via a "global electronic update infrastructure," according to an earlier notice posted on the site.

The AFSOC's move will not affect a similar one at another Air Force unit, the Air Mobility Command, which also plans to use iPads or equivalent tablet devices for electronic flight materials.

A spokesperson from the Mobility Command said via e-mail Wednesday that it is moving ahead with its plans to procure between 63 and 18,000 tablet devices to act as "electronic flight bags" and has put out a request for proposals.

Apple's mobile OS, iOS--which both iPhones and iPads use--has not officially passed security clearance for use in the federal government. However, Apple is working with the DOD and other government agencies to address the security issue.

Early last year Apple submitted cryptographic modules for iPhone and iPad security to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as part of the validation and certification process required under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002, which sets security standards for products and services used within the federal government.

Later that year, NIST itself procured 5 iPhones and 55 iPad 2s to begin its own testing to devise the best ways of securing them for government use.

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) also recently released a General Mobile Device (Non-Enterprise Activated) Security Technical Inplementation Guide (STIG) providing security policy and configuration requirements for smartphones or tablets within the DOD as long as they are not connected to a DOD network or enterprise nor process sensitive or classified DOD communications, said DISA spokesperson Alana Casanova via email.

Further, DOD CIOs who want to test iOS can receive what's called an "interim approval to operate" go-ahead to test the devices with DOD email and websites in a controlled environment, she said.

In the meantime, another tablet device already has passed security inspection at the DOD--an Android-based Dell Streak 5. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has published a Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) for the Dell Android mobile platform based on the device, a move that will allow the DOD to distribute the devices to personnel this year.

[buglerbilly]

AUSA 2012: DRS unveils new handheld device

24 February 2012 - 10:04 by Scott Gourley in Fort Lauderdale, USA



DRS Technologies used this week’s 2012 Association of the US Army (AUSA) Winter Symposium and Exhibition in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to unveil its latest handheld computer.

Dubbed ‘Scorpion H2,’ the stand alone COTS device features the latest Android operating system and is equipped with a Dual Core processor and robust memory and storage capacity.

‘It is our contender for the requirement for Nett Warrior and JBC-P [Joint Battle Command – Platform] Handheld,’ explained Bill Guyan, VP at DRS Tactical Systems.

‘It was launched here on 22 February as an evolution of the H1 that participated in the recent Network Integration Evaluation [NIE] 12.1. This expansion of the family of products embodies some of the lessons learned from NIE – both positive and negative.’

Acknowledging that some of the negative NIE soldier comments involved the large size of the H1 device, Guyan said: ‘It was big for a reason. The army has not made decisions yet about inclusion or no inclusion of SAASM [Selective Availability Anti-spoofing Module] GPS or encryption.

‘So we wanted to accurately present a form factor of a device that could accommodate those needs if they were required. But the end state was that we gave them a box that was bigger than it needed to be because it had empty space for expansion that wasn’t being used.’

Following a ‘smaller is better for the soldier’ philosophy, the company developed the base model Scorpion H2 in as small and light a form factor as possible.

With a base model weighing just 227g, the platform is ‘designed for expansion capabilities’, according to Guyan.

‘We think it meets the cost bogey range that the army has in mind. We think it meets the higher level requirements for flexibility, tech insertion and modularity,’ he continued.

‘We think it meets the requirements that we got from the soldiers’ mouths about light weight and size – I don’t know anyone else that’s got an 8 ounce solution. And it also meets another critical parameter, which is performance, with the fastest Dual Core processor on the market.

‘It also meets battery life – 8 hours of battery life in an 8 ounce package – in a design that allows for recharging of the battery while you continue to operate the system while you use the radio. And there are some of our competitors’ solutions that you can’t do that with.’