The U.S. Marine Corps will acquire smartphones for fiscal year 2017 in a push to update the service branch’s capacity for fire support in support of efforts to bolster mobility and tactical capacity to address threats, C4ISR & Networks reported Monday.Mark Pomerleau writes air controllers, forward observers and joint terminal attack controllers will be given an updated portable system called the Target Handoff System designed to help dismounted Marines call for close-air support, locate targets and pinpoint GPS coordinates.
“With the new version, Marines will obtain a lightweight device equipped to provide immediate situational awareness on where friendly and enemy locations are, and the ability to hand off target data to fire support,” said Jesse Hume, Marine Corps Systems Command project officer for THS version 2.
THS version 2 will utilize commercial off-the-shelf smartphones which will reduce the acquisition time for the new technology as well as the entire system weight to approximately 10 pounds.
