Raytheon deploying Android-powered RATS on battlefields in Afghanistan and Pakistan
By Tim Stevens 
posted Oct 21st 2009 8:51AM
posted Oct 21st 2009 8:51AM
posted Oct 21st 2009 8:51AM
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Not good, most of you may not know but before becoming a terrorist Osama bin Laden was a computer engineer. He will crack open Android faster than a virgin can say NVIDIA GTX 290 SLI.
NVIDIA GTX 2... ah crap...
Another proof of the age old adage: Don't eff with engineers, we're crazy, and we're crazy smart.
its not out yet, this is still in development and the dod said they are showing interest, that does not mean they are deploying it right now. nice misleading headline engadget.
that's a cool looking android
Good enough to get on a t-shirt!
Wasn't the good old T800 running on android?
Being a Pakistani I was looking forward to the introduction of Android phones here, little did I know that the saying "be careful what you wish for" was so true
Prepares for all the Paki jokes that are bound to appear shortly!!!
No one like to make fun of Pakistanis, but sometimes you have it too easy, how do you explain THIS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fSpI4oZoDc
Being a Pakistani, I'm still waiting for 2.5G(in my area).
the jokes on you....the article says androids going to Afghanistan but i wonder why you think once its in Afghanistan in will be in Pakistan..... hmmmm
@ rinum009
It states Pakistan in the title...no joke.
ohh idk why i didnt see that DOWN RANK ME!!!! muhahaha
@ Sea Urchin:
Um, The singer in that video is an Indian Sikh, nothing to do with Pakistan or Muslims... Seriously, that was bizarre
@ The Article
So soldiers are now tagged, what if (given Android's open-source code) the system gets hacked, does it suddenly reveal every ones' location? for an easy sniping, perhaps?
@Ryzvonusef: Open source systems actually tend to be significantly more difficult to hack. The reason for this is because the source code has been out there for a while, so any vulnerabilities can be discovered by anyone in the world and then reported(many experts in academia are constantly poring through open source projects looking for just these kind of defects). It seems odd at first that having the way it's doing things open for anyone to look at makes it more secure, but it really just means it has to be even more secure, so that even people who know the source code inside and out can't find any defects.
"Android, Android in my hair. In my Nook"...
Android in my Nook sounds vaguely dirty. I like it.
How about just getting out of Afghanistan?
Once they're our 51st state we will.
Second that.
Too late, Puerto Rico has already claimed the title of being our 51st state.
I don't know about Puerto Rico, Guam maybe.
Yeah, would you like our soldiers to also leave a nicely built Mansion for Osama and Mullah Omar on our way out too?
Idiot. How easily you forget 9/11 and who harbored those assholes.
i just saw literally ten minutes on CNN about a terrorist attack that was recently thwarted in Canada, a plan to bom Toronto. i know there have been similar thwarted attacks against the US too. there is still work to be done.
*bomb
@DEEZNUTZ, I mean hairlessnutz,
Well since I was deployed over there for a while, I don't think I'll be forgetting 9/11 anytime soon.
@DEEZNUTZ
Crap! My bad dude, you weren't replying to me. My apologies, I get kinda cranky when this subject is brought up....
I really like Android. But I'm against Open Source Software in Systems vital for the national security. For obvious reasons.
What obvious reasons? DOD uses quite a bit of open source applications and systems.
Please elaborate, OSS has done very well in high security situations before.
Please stop with the FUD, since you have no idea what you are talking about. I am amazed that people still believe this "open source software is less secure" nonsense even while they are patching security holes in their proprietary systems every other day.
I for one would rather have critical systems running on FOSS that is visible to millions of engineers across the globe who can and do find, fix and notify the rest of the world about security holes before they become an issue, than running on a closed source system where companies looking out for their own interests often keep such security holes secret, if they even succeed in finding them before the activities of hackers have already made them public.
As an example, how many years did it take the industry to come up with that DVD encryption system and how many days did it take that European kid to crack it? Once the algorithm was in the light of day, people all over the world pointed out how woefully inadequate it was. Meanwhile, OpenPGP is still quite secure and widely used.
Android 3.0 Cheddar
Now wait until someone hacks it to "reveal" the fog of war. A bunch of red dots moving on screen should be amusing to the enemy commander.
Relax, OhReally. I don't think we will be dealing with the same catastrophic IT security disasters this country has been dealing with since the early 90's.
It is not like they are running Windows or something.
Hey, isn't in the Android EULA, or whatever license, such a statement that you can't use the product for terrorist activities, or making nukes etc...? Just like OS X and many other programs have? :)
So... What you're saying is... Using the Android OS for COUNTER-terrorism, is a terroristic activity?
I really don't want to get political here, but, if you look at it from the other side, the US counter-terroristic activity is actually being perceived as terroristic in those countries, and vice versa. :)
"I really don't want to get political here" --Let's be honest; yes you do.
"but, if you look at it from the other side, the US counter-terroristic activity is actually being perceived as terroristic in those countries, and vice versa"
i suspect that it's only seen as terrorism by the terrorists in those countries. also, they instigated it. we never would have gone to afghanistan without 9/11 or a similar attack. and there are still attacks being planned. i just saw on CNN about a thwarted attack to bomb Toronto. they started it, and they're not going to stop unless we end it.
Yes, generally I agree with you, maveric, but still... If you really were to look at it from their perspective, they think that the Americans started "it" and that they're "protecting" themselves etc...
Also, if it weren't for oil, US would have never interfered. Man, you've got enough nukes to send this planet to another galaxy, yet you keep at climbing rocks in the piece of wasted land for years!
But again, this is slipping way too much OT, let's stop it here. We all have our own views on the matter, no need to argue about them, which would be pointless.
You need to have some completely bad ass, military grade, tracking devices to completely own in war... there is no app for that.
"Using Android software tools, Raytheon ( RTN - news - people ) engineers built a basic application for military personnel that combines maps with a buddy list."
Apparently there is.
Great now war is really gonna look like a Stratego video game
My thoughts exactly.
"Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia."
About time.
http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2006/08/7545.ars
The Department of Defense says that open source and open standards will heavily increase the ability of the military to rapidly react to threats, as it is not locked down by proprietary bureaucracy, and the DoD can use its own army of coders to extend any OSS platform it needs to fit its exact needs. I think it is a good thing the people responsible for the defense of this country are realizing things everyone else did years ago. Looks like Android fit the bull for them.
Anyone else immediately think about the potential uses in Modern Warfare 3?
3 Kill Streak! Verizon Droid available.
Our Verizon Droid is online!
So what happens if the enemy get hold of a unit? They can perfectly see all their targets!
Yeah, that's why they are sensitive items and we don't let them fall into enemy hands. Technology and equipment like this has been fielded for a long time now, running off of various Linux distros(modded for the DoD of course).
My question is, how long till a soldier roots one?
Well it will still be a cell phone, so you just remote wipe the thing.