Android powered tablet hits the battlefield in close air support demonstration

During a recent training exercise, “Talon Reach” held in Arizona, DARPA successfully tested a new system for Forward Air Controllers to call in air strikes that made use of Android-powered tablets in place of more traditional radios and hardened laptop devices. The tablets ran a program called Persistent Close Air Support, or PCAS, that was able to communicate with a counterpart program on board air support, known as PCAS-Air, in order to call in an air strike. DARPA and the military believe the new system will give Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) the ability to order air strikes more quickly and with greater precision, even under chaotic and stressful conditions.

The PCAS system consists of “intuitive software” that uses satellite imagery, real time intelligence and surveillance data, and “easy to fill in fields” that JTACs can use to provide information to their air support, a package of information known as a “Nine Line” brief. Once the briefing information is received by the PCAS-Air portion of the system, the target is located on a map and an attack solution is generated. One key component is the ability of the system to recognize and be aware of the locations of friendlies which should help reduce the possibility of fratricide occurring.

One sign of the successful test of the system was the time it took for the JTAC and their air support, in this case a V-22 Osprey, to deliver a Griffin Missile payload on target to a position right next to an abandoned truck. According to DARPA,

The length of time from initiation by the JTAC to missile impact on target was just over four minutes—even better than PCAS’ goal of six minutes, and more than seven times faster than the half hour or more it can take using current methods that rely on voice directions and paper maps.

Although Android may be at the heart of the tablets used for the new system, DARPA has created their own, unique interface layer called Kinetic Integrated Low-cost SoftWare Integrated Tactical Combat Handheld, or KILSWITCH. According to sources, KILSWITCH has been employed in different scenarios over the past couple years, but this is the first time it has been integrated with air support.

During Talon Reach, another test of the KILSWITCH enabled tablets involved some Marine units attempting to engage adversaries. The night mission involved two groups of Marines who needed to coordinate their efforts. One of the groups launched a small, unmanned air vehicle that provided, among other capabilities, network relay services. Once launched, all of the KILSWITCH tablets from both groups were able to sync up providing both groups the ability to determine the locations of friendlies and coordinate their attack.

One of the benefits of an increasingly technology-enabled world is that members of the military can be kept safer. The downside is that the use of technologies introduces a new attack vector for the enemy to try to disrupt operations. Although we can expect to see more use of advanced technology on the battlefield, backup systems will remain a key component.

Click here to view the embedded video.

source: Foxtrot Alpha

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