A number of things that consumers take for granted today were derived from things that the military needed or wanted. One very common example is GPS that we all take for granted today. The military is now taking that develop things, then turn them to civilian use, and reversing the whole trend with a new Android powered network that it is working on. The US Army is hard at work on an Android-based smartphone framework for tactical operations.

The network will has a suite of apps that soldiers and commanders can take advantage of in the field. The network and the devices on it will be able to do all sorts of cool things. The soldier will be able to mark areas to serve as a warning for other soldiers operating in the area. Other reports have also outlined apps where the solider can directly access a feed coming from a camera or drone in the air to see what the area looks like form above. The military is also working on similar networks and apps for the iPhone.

“If we see an enemy up front, we could put it in the GPS system,” said Spc. Hao Bui, a member of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division, to the Army’s official web site. “Even though they (fellow Soldiers) can’t see it, you can mark it for them.” Military commands think that every slider carrying a smartphone around makes a lot of sense. The military is going to offer a developers kit called the Mobile/Handheld CE Product Developers Kit and hand it out to see what devs can come up with for military use.

[via ibtimes]