iPad buy would mean Air Force is no longer Apple-free zone
- By Defense Systems Staff
- Feb 29, 2012
The Air Force’s Air Mobility Command is considering buying 18,000 iPads, a purchase that could get Apple into a military market that’s eluded it, Spencer Ackerman reports in Wired's Danger Room.
A recent solicitation from the command seeks a maximum of 18,000 iPad 2s to be “electronic flight bags” — tools to launch apps that digitize large manuals. However, the solicitation did call for iPads or “equal” devices, the article pointed out.
If the command buys even half that many iPads, that would be largest tablet or smart-phone purchase the military has made, the story said.
The article explained that the Pentagon is basically an Apple-free zone because its desktop computers have long run on Windows, and its tablets and smart phones are all Android.