iPads for NGEN?

That's a real possibility, Capt. Shawn Hendricks, manager of the Naval Enterprise Networks Program Office, told a media briefing Friday. Hendricks' office runs the $10 billion Next Generation Network project.

The price differential between tablet computers and desktops means that if there was a one-to-one swapout, the Navy and Marines could realize a $60 million savings, Hendricks said.

But since some NGEN users are literally engaged in rocket science, iPads do not have the power to handle such tasks, Hendricks said. This means iPads -- if they have a place on NGEN -- must be matched with end users and their applications.

Hendricks also indicated that he would like to see iPads conform to federal encryption standards, something the Veterans Affairs Department, which deployed its first 1,000 iPads this month, has chosen to ignore.