America’s armed forces have added some major tech to their arsenal lately, from smartphones for soldiers to giant surveillance blimps. And now, AAI has unveiled a new tool for battlefield commanders in the form of giant touchscreen tablet. Its screen is three feet by two feet and employs surveillance information to give those in charge an overhead view of a war zone that shows the position of both good guys and bad. Icons represent troops, air support, and spy drones, which are then deployed by tapping and dragging them on the touchscreen. Such input doesn’t actually control battlefield assets, but it does send orders to the appropriate personnel so they can be executed, and soldiers confirm receipt of the order via instant message. The company’s still trying to sell the system to the Army, but we’d imagine that such drag and drop warfare will appeal to Uncle Sam. Who knows, perhaps all those hours spent honing your Starcraft skills can soon be put to good use defending the country.

[Image credit: Spencer Ackerman]

Giant tablet lets commanders control war with the swipe of a finger originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:56:00 EST.