Appliqué+
For reliability, Appliqué software runs on the Solaris operating system rather than Windows. In addition to downloadable maps and video game alike updates of everyone’s location, Appliqué includes both long- and short-form text message systems ( just think about e-mail and instant messaging) to augment voice radio commands that can be missed, misheard, or forgotten.
Commanders can send encrypted orders individually or to groups. Individual soldiers can message one another. Updates of troop locations come into the command post, and new maps and plans whoosh back out, without the need for the white boards and sticky pens soldiers used to scribble with during battle.
Technically, it’s a private intranet of Pentium-powered Appliqué+ computers that talk to one another on a wireless network using the same TCP/IP protocols, just like the rest of us do. But well, that’s good enough for government work.
Dubbed as FBCB2 in Pentagon speak, the $800 million project is the centerpiece of the military’s new digital battlefield. Officers and soldiers in each of the 4ID’s five brigades will be able to share a common, up-to-date picture, marking the GPS-plotted locations of both friendlies and hostile forces in the battle zone.
