Google’s Android smartphone operating system is just about to enlist in the US Army. For years the US military has been trying to integrate networking technology into the everyday soldiers kit. With cool names like the Future Warrior System and Mobile Handheld Computing Environment, the military is eager to combine the technology of the civilian world with the hardware used by the military. Already many vehicles are linked via satellites and commanders are never far from thier battle laptops. But now, the Army wants every soldier to be smartphone equipped and has chosen Google’s Android as their weapon of choice.

Android’s army of apps

The advantage of choosing Android as the platform of choice is not as a music player, but for the wide range of apps that could become standard. The Army wants a do draw upon the open source development environment to get some of the best minds creating military-themes apps for their smartphones. The military wants map and navigation apps and wants to provide commanders as well as infantry grunts with the ability to upload terrain photos and an app that stores information about the location of civilians into a unit-wide network instantly. 

Army smartphones. A weakness?

However, a fancy ringtone giving away a unit’s position isn’t the only issue with the Army’s Mobile EC. Some people have legitimate concerns about integrating the military this way. For  example, what would happen if a soldier losses his smartphone? An enemy or spy could either access the apps used or even insert false information on their own into the network. Additionally, the Army is requesting some crucial messaging software to use instant messaging technology to convey information about medevac requests or the location of enemy forces. How difficult would it be for an enemy to hack a soldier’s smartphone and have access to all of this vital information?