The Pentagon is, for all intents and purposes, an Apple-free zone. Its desktop computers have long run on Windows, and now its tablets and smartphones are all Android. But there's a chance that might be about to change. The Air Force's Air Mobility Command is considering a monster purchase of iPads -- one that might give Apple inroads into a military market that's eluded it so far.
A recent solicitation from Air Mobility Command has the Air Force's cargo and transport division seeking "a maximum of 18,000 iPad 2s" to serve as "Electronic Flight Bags" -- essentially, tools to launch apps that digitize the flyboys' weighty manuals. Even that purchase isn't a slam dunk for Cupertino, since the solicitation called for iPads or "equal" devices. (Cue the indignation from Cult of Mac-types.) But if the Air Force even buys half that many iPads, it would still represent the largest tablet or smartphone purchase the military's made thus far.
And it also could represent something of a reversal of Apple's military fortunes. Last week, the Air Force's Special Operations Command canceled an order of over 2,000 iPads, apparently prompted by security concerns about Russian software on the devices for reading PDFs of flight charts that double as encryption agents. As if to twist the knife, a spokeswoman told NextGov that the command "continues" to evaluate "the procurement aspect of providing tablets to the field." In other words, they love tablets -- just not Apple's tablet.
That's a familiar story for Apple. While the military is just getting started playing around with smart devices, it's balked at shelling out for Cupertino's mobile products.
In 2010, the military's Special Operations Command wanted a suite of apps to get militarily relevant data out to their dismounted, networked commandos, including a "multi-touch whiteboarding aka John Madden tool." They went with Android phones to host it. The next year, when the app-mad Army started playing around with its first smartphone linked to its new data network, Android powered it.
Later in 2011, the Army bought a bunch of commercial smartphones -- as in, officers went to Best Buy and purchased 60 phones -- to test out how they worked with the new data network. It also debuted a new quasi-smartphone to replace an old, funky plan to make soldiers wear computers. Yet again, in both cases, Droid did.
The preference was rarely made explicit, and behind the scenes, Army officials whispered to reporters that they didn't want to make it seem like they were dissing Apple. And Apple had a few mobile military successes, like when Marine aviators bought 32 iPads last fall to help program close air support.
But the word's gotten around to the defense industry. At military gear showcases like the Association of the United States Army conference, developers who come up with everything from insta-translators to mapping tools run the software they want to sell the Army with Android as their operating system.
So why not Apple? As the iPad cancellation indicated, there are concerns about data security -- but in fairness, the Army hasn't yet certified Android (or Windows Mobile, for that matter) as secure, either. The answer you hear most often is cost. Apple products are more expensive, which is why most government desktops run Windows and bureaucrats thumb their way through BlackBerries. Now that the military is facing a future of tighter budgets, iPads and iPhones might be too expensive.
But the Air Mobility Command is bucking that trend. Buying 18,000 iPads will make it the most always-on part of the military by a longshot. And since the Army wants to start out using smartphones for pretty much the same function -- running apps that digitize its training and field manuals -- it's possible the Air Force purchase might spur a second look at iOS from the ground-pounders.
Still, the military isn't ready to issue camo-colored coverings to iPads just yet. An Air Mobility Command spokeswoman said the 18,000 order may not just buy iPads -- Motorola's Xoom, Samsung's Galaxy Tab, and even Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader might be included in the Air Force purchase. And all those tablets have a certain competing operating system in common.
