Your Android phone may soon be military grade technology. For the past two decades, the Army has been working on a wearable computer for soldiers in the field in a program currently known as Nett Warrior. In July, the eight pound communications and mapping system was put on hold while the program was reviewed- The thought of making a solider wear eight pounds of gear to accomplish the same things as a few-ounce smart phone seemed ridiculous to Pentagon officials. As a result of this rare example of “military intelligence,” a new solicitation from Nett Warrior for an “End User Device” now insists that the new device is powered by Android. The Army is now looking for a smartphone-like device that can provide “commercial-based, integrated computer, display and data-entry capability for dismounted use in either standalone or networked configuration.” While this sounds like a device you could buy at any electronics store right now, the army version will most assuredly be ruggedized, equipped with special encryption and connectivity capabilities, and accompanied by some peripherals that you and I could only dream of. As the Army is already planning on launching its own app store, creating its own phone to run those apps seems like the next step.

Source: Wired

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