∞ U.S. Army to give iPhones, iPads to every soldier

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The U.S. army is heading into a world where every soldier will be connected by a smartphone. The move is expected to revolutionize the way the army trains its soldiers and fights in the field.

[ad#Google Adsense 300x250 in story]Soldiers are likely to have a choice between an iPhone and an Android phone, according to the Army Times. Officials said no modifications would be made to the devices, beyond making them more rugged for field use.

“At war, smart phones would let soldiers view real-time intelligence and video from unmanned systems overhead, and track friends and enemies on a dynamic map,” according to the report. “But the Army must first work through the complex task of securing the data and the network before it sanctions smart phones on the battlefield.”

The military isn’t just looking at the iPhone to enhance its battlefield presence — the iPad could potentially see its way into combat too.

Credit: Army Times

“We’re looking at everything from iPads to Kindles to Nook readers to mini-projectors,” said Mike McCarthy, director of the mission command complex of Future Force Integration Directorate at Fort Bliss.

The Loop has learned that an informal survey of army personnel earlier this year heavily favored the iPhone over any other smartphone on the market.


  • $320AShareMakesMeGrin>8-)

    I sure wish this rumor was true that Army troops will be given iPhones but I suppose they’d need to be beefed up somehow to stand the rigors of military life. iPhones are probably more fragile compared to many less expensive plastic smartphones. At least it’s good to hear that the iPhone was a favored choice despite the earlier Antennagate controversy.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_Y4AJEC7WSC22KKCYIH6ANZ43CM Mile L.

      No, iPhones are the most rugged of all cell phones currently on the market, they are practically indestructible, far stronger than plastic ones. Plus you are getting a real iPhone, not a cheap knockoff like an Android.
      -
      No, there was never any “antennagate”, that was just a media based myth. All iPhone 4′s work great, so don’t fall into the trap of what the “haters” want you to believe.

      • Anonymous

        Heh-heh.. what a nice little fanboi!

      • iSheep

        DUMB APPLE SLAVE

    • Anonymous

      iPhones are more rugged, and they can be ruggedized with 1 of about 10,000 different custom cases that precisely fit the form factor. But the military just considers a $500 device to be disposable, replaceable, because that is so much cheaper than the custom tech it replaces.

    • Anonymous

      Antennagate was a marketing scheme by all non-Apple phone makers, who collectively make less than half the profit in phones today, while Apple takes more than half by itself. Other makers are desperate fir anything to stop Apple. It’s a testament to how good iPhone is that they had to criticize basic cell networking flaws that apply to all phones in order to have something bad to say. Since then, Motorola, RIM, and HTC have all eaten their words when they had to admit their post- iPhone 4 phones have the same problem.

      • MACTARD

        Oh really ??? I have tried countless iPhone’s all with the same problem. Tons of friends have had the same problems. Apple store employees have admitted to the problem. It’s all over the media, yet its false since Steve Jobs told me so. How many Android phones were deathgripped. THATS RIGHT SHUT YOUR PIEHOLE NEXT TIME

  • Anonymous

    And the Air Force is sure to follow. Their motto will be Angry Birds! :)

  • Anonymous

    ” Officials said no modifications would be made to the devices, beyond making them more rugged for field use.”

    I am assuming that means a very robust case.

    I am wondering about the cell phone and data service out in the boonies. Perhaps the Army is also going to deploy mobile cell towers. Another possibility is cell antennas on a tethered balloon, drone, or piloted aircraft. I remember a while back when I think it was the Governor of South Dakota proposed letting cell service balloons drift across the state; After reaching a border the balloons would be triggered to land and the electronics recovered and then reused.

    Someone will probably comment that an enemy could also use the cell/data service. We could intercept their traffic and possibly get intel from that, even we need to break a code. Also we could use Find My iPhone and target the user.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_Y4AJEC7WSC22KKCYIH6ANZ43CM Mile L.

      no, only “the user” of the iphone can use the “find my iphone” feature to find their iphone, so you might want to update your comment.

  • Obvioussham

    Completely misleading title = click bait.
    Last time I visit this site.

  • Robinson

    Same reaction as last poster. Yes, the article was interesting (raises all sorts of questions– soldier in combat trying to juggle his iPad, rifle, walkie-talkie–or playing games while…)

    But the headline: “U.S. Army to give iPhones, iPads to every soldier” is simply, absolutely UNTRUE!

    Just consider the text in the story:

    “Soldiers are likely to have a choice between an iPhone and an Android phone, according to the Army Times”

    *are likely*–not a done deal yet; plus *choice*, not giving out iPhones.

    and undercut by this: “But the Army must first work through the complex task of securing the data and the network before it sanctions smart phones on the battlefield.”

    Then this

    “the iPad *could* potentially see its way into combat too. “We’re *looking at everything* from iPads to Kindles to Nook readers to mini-projectors,” said Mike McCarthy, director of the mission command complex of Future Force Integration Directorate at Fort Bliss.”

    *could* and *looking at everything*.

    Headline could have been “U.S. Army considering smartphones, iPads, Kindles, etc. for combat”

  • Zenism

    Tripe!!!

  • Moeskido

    Doesn’t this mean anyone in possession of the frequencies being used could track our soldiers’ positions?

    • Anonymous

      Yes, but then we could also use Navy Beach Jumper tactics to mislead the enemy in thinking that troops are in an area when all it is are some small transmitters.

  • http://www.google.com/profiles/MattStoneNYC#about Matt Stone

    WTF!! So, my taxes are going to iPhones for military personnel so they can tweet each other and play agry birds. What a joke.

    • Anonymous

      Your joking, right?

      • http://www.google.com/profiles/MattStoneNYC#about Matt Stone

        Are you kidding me!!!!.. You actually buy into this bullshit!! I was in the reserves, so not the regular army but non the less, I hung with the boys and girls that do the protection of the country, they aren’t super heroes, they are regular jo shmo’s that some had the guts to say”fuck you foreign country, I love my country and I believe what my mates and that politician and all those cool adverts are saying and I’m going to do something about it and cool, I get an iPhone as a bonus…. And then there are the ones that say Who gives a shit, I paid my dues before I decided to do this shit and join the army/navy/air force.. whatever and I deserve an iPhone so I can play angry birds and tweet and shit.. Whit accounts for 90% of the forces. The other 10% or less that actually give a shit are the ones agreeing with the fact that the government has nor F’ing clue on how to spend their money and that giving an iPhone to every person in the forces is a BIG PILE OF WANK because real working weapons and real support is what they need… Not freaking iPhone’s!!!

        • http://joesplace.com.au Joe

          I seriously doubt the intelligence of anyone who can’t use the apostrophe correctly.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_Y4AJEC7WSC22KKCYIH6ANZ43CM Mile L.

      iPhones are a lot cheaper to use and maintain than Androids, plus they have better hardware and software. So we need to make sure the money only goes to iPhones, otherwise money would be wasted.

      • TARDS

        just chug on that Apple kool-aid buddy

  • http://www.google.com/profiles/MattStoneNYC#about Matt Stone

    @Mile lol Funny. There was me remembering once upon a time that the Army was pissed about still having iron sights instead of SUSAT’s. I would have thought the money would be best spent giving the forces better weapons to shoot people and blow stuff up. Death by Fruit Ninja doesn’t really have the same ring to it. Maybe I’m been a little too critical of the fact that it is a $200+ iPhone or Android that is been handed out with our tax money; after all, it should increase the stock value of Apple and will help boost business in China, and let’s not forget that the local restaurants will see a nice upswing in business due to the use of Yelp.

  • Anonymous

    The U.S. army really a BIG ZOO.
    (Here is a list of the best christmas iPhone apps and games from aneesoft that you should go ahead and download.
    http://www.aneesoft.com/tutorials/iphone/best-iphone-apps-for-christmas-holiday.html)

  • Anonymous

    A choice of Apple or Android makes no sense as long as Android can’t run real native C apps. The military already uses iPod touch for the powerful custom apps they can make. Also, a key feature was almost no training and the uniformity and replacability of the hardware. Android phones change every 3 months, you would never have the same phone twice.

    • Inception

      That just shows how much faster Android is advancing, and how Apple is always behind the curve

  • Anonymous

    b2cshop.us

  • All

    Way to waste our tax dollars. Why pays their bills. We the tax payers. Biggest waste of money.