Navy brings smartphones aboard carriers.

• Author: Beidel, Eric
• Position: Defense Technology Newswire

* Continuing the military smartphone trend, the Office of Naval Research recently announced that deployed sailors and marines will be using the devices aboard aircraft carriers.

The service members will be able to use the phones to navigate their way around a carrier, as well as locate and track anyone on the ship in real time, officials said.

ONR has funded the Precise At-Sea Ship System for Indoor-Outdoor Navigation (PASSION) system, which uses wireless technology for internal and external surveillance of ships and aircraft. The initial concept was demonstrated on a carrier in April. Since then, researchers have shown the ability to load the technology onto a smartphone instantly, allowing users to monitor Wi-Fi signal strength and send alerts through text or email.

"An aircraft carrier has 5,000 sailors, more than 2,000 compartments, 75 aircraft and countless high-value assets," said John Kim, ONR program...