The changing technology landscape: rugged, portable computing for the modern warri ... Page 1 of 11 MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS INTELLIGENT AEROSPACE INTELLIGENT AEROSPACE CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION SUBSCRIBE | ADVERTISE | ABOUT | CONTACT HOME TOPICS DEPARTMENTS MAGAZINE WEBCASTS WHITE PAPERS EBOOKS VIDEOS BUYER'S GUIDE MOBILE Home High-Reliability Electronics The changing technology landscape: rugged, portable computing for the modern warrior Open + The changing technology landscape: rugged, portable computing for the modern warrior January 1, 2013 By Skyler Frink Assistant Editor On today's network-centric battlefield, unmanned vehicles, satellites, ground vehicles, and warfighters on foot transmit and share information. With so much data at hand, rugged, portable computing devices have become a necessity to keep warfighters up to date. With portable form factors, such as tablets and smartphones, warfighters can access the information they need where and when they need it. Rugged, portable computing devices enable warfighters to stay in touch with their colleagues without being a burden. These systems are lightweight, rugged, secure, and suitable for a wide variety of demanding environmental conditions. http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/print/volume-24/issue-1/technology-focus/... 12/02/2015 The changing technology landscape: rugged, portable computing for the modern warri ... Page 2 of 11 Smartphones enable individual warfighters to access the military network, providing them with situational awareness and communications. Laptop demands drop off In the recent past, rugged laptop computers were considered essential for the network-centric battlefield, but today these devices often are considered to be too large and heavy for fast-moving military forces. "I think laptops are kind of going away a bit," says Tim Quinn, managing partner for Ascent Rugged Mobile in San Diego. "The only reason you would use a laptop now is for the keyboard. They're too expensive now compared to the tablet. Their LCD [liquid crystal display] technology is old. The only reason you would use it is for a keyboard." Warfighters need to access information quickly, which tablet computer and smartphone technology offer at a lower cost than laptops. Processing power is not as important at the tactical edge as is the ability to access and process data. The ability to provide an infantryman with a portable device he already understands, such as a touch-screen tablet or smartphone, is more important than the advantage in processing power that laptops bring. ALL ACCESS SPONSORS Rugged tablets and smartphones View the 2014 Buyer's Guide Now! With the popularity of tablets in the consumer market, tablet technology has advanced at a rapid pace in the military. Tablets have several uses for defense and aerospace customers, especially where tablet users can dock the device and use it to view information from another system while adding touch-screen capabilities. For maintenance, tablets can plug into a vehicle and read system information, while running programs. The user then can carry the tablet to another vehicle and use it the same way. Tablets also are useful for those who require more processing power and a larger screen size, but still need to stay mobile. "More of the leadership folks would have tablets because they need more real estate to do data," says Quinn. "They usually aren't out tactically alone; they have a place to set it." Smartphones in the military often function as tablets, but with additional means of communications. Rugged smartphones not only can use the same applications as a tablet, but they also can communicate with carrier networks http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/print/volume-24/issue-1/technology-focus/... 12/02/2015 The changing technology landscape: rugged, portable computing for the modern warri ... Page 3 of 11 and satellites, while a rugged tablet often will communicate only with wireless networks. Rugged smartphones also provide cost savings when compared to tablets. "In the military, what's going on is they're looking to do more with less," says Quinn. "It's a phone and computer all in one. It's a cost reduction and it's multi- functional." By combining a computing device and a communications device, the military can save money while still offering the functionality warfighters need. POPULAR BUYER'S GUIDE CATEGORY SEARCHES • Board Products • Communications • Components/Power Electronics/Sensors • Computers • Diagnostics & Control • Electro-Optics • Navigation • Platform Systems/Subsystems • RF & Microwave • Safety Equipment & Components • Services The ARM-SP4-H rugged smartphone by Ascent Rugged Mobile has an NSA • Software Suite-B cryptographic core for secure data. • Test & Measurement • Thermal Management/Cooling Systems Applications Rugged tablets and smartphones function in a variety of ways, but their main Update or Enhance Your Listing purpose is for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR). To do this, tablets and smartphones MIL & AERO MAGAZINE must use specially designed applications for data sharing and acquisition. "There are a variety of communications applications to transmit battlefield command and control information, even as a front-end to tools," says Robert November Rohonczy, marketing manager at General Dynamics Canada in Ottawa. 2014 Stories from the Tablets and smartphones can display less complicated versions of applications Print Issue in vehicles or command centers. "Really what happens is the full applications Past Issues you might have in a command center or high-value vehicle, there's a subset of those that exist on the smartphones," explains General Dynamics' Rohonczy. Subscribe "A simplified interface and a subset of the data are synchronized as re- quired. In application complexity, it's like looking at an Android phone as compared to a DOWNLOAD OUR APPS PC. The maps will be simpler; they may show fewer elements on the battlefield." These simplified programs enable war-fighters operating at the tactical edge to receive the same information commanders have access to, but without iPhone iPad Android unnecessary details or distractions. Infantrymen then can act on the subset of data they receive without concerning themselves with sorting through FOLLOW US ON... information that is not relevant to their mission. "The shooter-level guy will now have a way to view data, where in the past all he had was a tactical radio," says Quinn. "These devices can include blue force tracking information, receive video feeds from UAVs and UGVs, and they can take in video or photos and send them from their location." TOPIC INDEX The ability to send and receive data helps rugged smartphones and tablets View Military & Aerospace Electronics articles by enable warfighters to act as network nodes, which can help provide a clear topic, A-Z picture of the operating theater to everyone on the network. NEWSLETTERS Enabling technology Military & Aerospace Electronics Rugged tablet and smartphone technology in the military is a recent trend. "You're really looking at a phenomenon that has become pervasive in the past five years," says Rohonczy. "We've been looking at soldier systems for the past http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/print/volume-24/issue-1/technology-focus/... 12/02/2015 The changing technology landscape: rugged, portable computing for the modern warri ... Page 4 of 11 five decades or more, but they've been more along the lines of traditional Weekly newsletter covering technical content, computers. With the onset of consumer tablets, there has been a great pull for breaking news and product information solutions in the tablet and smartphone space." SUBSCRIBE Defense Executive The reason for the sudden shift away from traditional computers, such as laptops and desktops, is that tablet and smartphone technology has begun Monthly newsletter covering business news and seeing rapid improvement. "There are two major factors: the advancement in strategic insights for executive managers SUBSCRIBE processing power, the new processors that are at 1.6 GHz and higher that can go into small device like smartphones, as well as the advent of the android Electronic Warfare operating system," explains Quinn. Quarterly newsletter covering technologies and applications in electronic warfare, cyber warfare, In addition, the Android operating system is inexpensive enough for widely optical warfare, and spectrum warfare. distributed tablets and smartphones. "The cost of ownership of Android is low," SUBSCRIBE says Quinn. "It is along the lines of Linux, and it is a derivative of Linux. It's a fairly open society." By using a more open operating system, members of the Embedded Computing Report defense industry can reduce the cost of installing it on their devices, while Monthly newsletter covering news on embedded customizing it to their liking. computing in aerospace, defense and industrial- rugged applications SUBSCRIBE Unmanned Vehicles Monthly newsletter covering news updates for designers of unmanned vehicles SUBSCRIBE Tablet computers are portable enough for infantrymen to carry into the field to view detailed maps, send orders, view video, and share information. Security Military computing devices that carry, send, and receive mission-critical information call for data security, and rugged tablets and smartphones are no exception. These devices must meet certain National Security Agency (NSA) standards, and there are some security issues