fwlab.com

Defense contractors are trying to substitute costly custom embedded devices with ruggedized versions of iPhones and Android based smartphones, in order to display battle maps, using devices geolocation in order to offer troops intelligence on the field.

Driver factor is cost, ruggedized mobile phones are an order of magnitude cheaper than costly custom devices the army is normally using today, costing in excess of 10000$ in order to fight IEDs.

Besides, US soldiers are already accustomed to using them and fluent users of mobile phones operating systems. Apple license explicitly forbids using their iPhones and GPS navigation system on board of UAVs, probably the US Army will have to get a corporate developer license.

Let's say we won't see these Apps on the App store anytime soon.