Navy wants to make tactical and commercial handheld devices talk

The Navy is casting the net for new systems to help various military and commercial handheld devices and phones talk to each other and transmit communications more seamlessly, government documents indicate.

The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center is soliciting information on the commercially-available systems that make various handheld devices interoperable. One goal is to make commercial phones interoperable with federal, state and local radio systems using the new narrowband P25 standard, which enables agencies to communicate with other public safety organizations in emergencies.

The information would help the Navy implement a “family of systems that can intelligently manage the deployment and usage of tactical radio stations and handhelds using all available wireless network resources,” according to the solicitation.