Equipment 'quick fixes' are the order of the day.

• Author: Jean, Grace
• Position: Remotely operated video by extended range

As the services face a growing demand for new battlefield technologies, equipment "quick fixes" often have circumvented the formal acquisition process.

One such item, a video receiver called ROVER--remotely operated video by extended range--which plugs into a laptop and allows for multiple sensor feeds, has expanded rapidly across all services, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Donald Hoffman, military deputy at the office of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition.

"When a division gets ready to go over to Iraq, they say, 'we need ROVERs' and they just go get them," said Hoffman, who compared the process to another "quick fix"--CB radios that parents have shipped to troops so their squads can communicate.

Marines installed transmitters in the targeting pods that are mounted under fighter jet wings to allow video to be shared with ROVER-equipped troops. Cameras mounted on aircraft collect images and send them as full-motion streaming video to ground forces. The real-time imagery provides tactical air controllers on the ground an aerial view of what is happening in an area before and after they call in close air support. The first time the receiver was used, fighters destroyed the target, Hoffman said at a conference...