Tactical Android Apps for the Rifleman

The Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) integration activities held during the summer of 2010 at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama and at the White Sands Missile Range in White Sands, New Mexico demonstrated the need for tools to support JTRS radios and the Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) network. DataSoft and SecureComm, two JTRS HMS subcontractors, have partnered to develop tools to support tactical mission activities and network diagnostics and configuration. The applications are low-cost to develop, can be fielded quickly at the squad and platoon levels, are intuitive to use, minimize Warfighter training, and require no new hardware development. The Android smartphone platform is used for the user interface device to the SRW data network. Selecting Android as the application platform offers a variety of hardware choices, provides a smartphone environment with data capture capabilities built-in, and has an open and stable application development platform with a wide array of support in the commercial sector which lowers overall cost. Both companies have worked extensively with General Dynamics, the JTRS HMS prime contractor, during the design and development of the Rifleman and Manpack radios and leverage their experience with the radio hardware, software and SRW waveform to develop these applications.