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U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command abruptly cancels iPad 2 order - Page 3

post #81 of 93
2/23/12 at 8:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lightknight View Post

They're still one of the world greatest powers. Have you seen America "freeing" Chechnya? Intervening in Ossetia? Have you maybe, heard about Russia's stance on Iran? Maybe you've at least heard America deployed antinukes in Poland, against Russian missiles?

[While we're on that particular subject, those antinukes mean that in order to defend the US Motherland, England and Netherlands and France and Germany will be sprayed with nuclear waste... But who cares about those subhumanbeings, "Europeans"...]

And by the way, Russia also still has nukes, T-90s, Migs, and the ability to strangle Europe's energy sources. The DoD is pretty much right to question any software from Russia, after all, the NSA itself planted backdoors all over Windows for twenty years. They know better than you

Oh, in that case it makes perfect sense for the US AirForce to cancel their order of 18.000 Apple iPads. Because ... the PDF-reader the AirForce considered installing on them turned out to be developed by a Russian guy with no ties to the Russian government what so ever.
Yeah, it all makes sense to me now.
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post #82 of 93
2/23/12 at 9:02am
It's really wonderful how this thread has spun off into political warfare...

Here's a thought, why doesn't the Air Force simply not install GoodReader on these iPads? It's not like it's a a built in app, and there are plenty of other similar apps out there. Heck, one of them is probably even made in the good 'ol USA.
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post #83 of 93
2/23/12 at 9:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PastorOfMuppets View Post

It's really wonderful how this thread has spun off into political warfare...

Here's a thought, why doesn't the Air Force simply not install GoodReader on these iPads? It's not like it's a a built in app, and there are plenty of other similar apps out there. Heck, one of them is probably even made in the good 'ol USA.

Yeah, I agree. I think there is a small American company called Adobe that makes a PDF reader for iOS. I think they know a thing or two about PDFs.
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post #84 of 93
2/23/12 at 9:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rutherware View Post

Yeah, I agree. I think there is a small American company called Adobe that makes a PDF reader for iOS. I think they know a thing or two about PDFs.

I'd trust software made by one of our country's formerly mortal enemies before I trusted anything by Adobe being used for government/military stuff.

Crap's not secure at ALL.

Having said that, I don't trust Russian software at all, and I'm sort of outraged at the thinking behind not trusting US stuff over international stuff.
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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post #85 of 93
2/23/12 at 11:05am
I've had strong reservations about deploying iPads in the cockpit. But lately, I've come to see the benefit in them. Pretty cheap for a Class 1 EFB. And AA simply got by the redundancy issues by stuffing an extra iPad in the cockpit.

For the military though, I don't know why they wouldn't employ the customized version of Android they are developing. They are developing it, specifically to address security issues. Why would the USAF not use tablets based on a DoD developed OS to ensure commonality and configuration control across the services?

Whatever they pick, they should at least ensure that all the services stick to a common device to reduce software development costs.
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post #86 of 93
2/23/12 at 11:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

I'd trust software made by one of our country's formerly mortal enemies before I trusted anything by Adobe being used for government/military stuff.

Crap's not secure at ALL.

Having said that, I don't trust Russian software at all, and I'm sort of outraged at the thinking behind not trusting US stuff over international stuff.

It's reading approach plates. Hardly some high end function. Adobe is perfect for that function (and approach plates already come in PDF format). Honestly, any eReader would do. Even an iPad is overkill, truth be told.
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post #87 of 93
2/23/12 at 11:09am
OOPS! Some one at Apple forgot to salute. This being a part of procurement in the military the procedure is to kiss as manny asses as possible, and since this the military you have to say thank you sir after you do. (A little wine helps as well as a few dead presidents.)
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post #88 of 93
2/23/12 at 11:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by VinitaBoy View Post

Absolutely SPOT-ON, Neruda. Most of the tech world knows (believes strongly) that iPad 3 is less than two weeks away from announcement/release. Why in the world would the Air Force want a tablet that is about to be "previous-gen"? My experience with government purchasing agencies is that the very TITLE of the iPad 3 requires that the former PO be withdrawn, rewritten, and resubmitted with the NEW identifier . . . iPad 3 instead of iPad 2.

Because the military is not always concerned with buying the latest and greatest. They are concerned with getting what works. When it comes to computer equipment, sometimes it's best to buy something a year old, so as to ensure there's no kinks in it. Last thing, I'd want is for my iPad to have some mysterious issue and shut off while i'm on final in IMC with no runway in sight, about to go for the missed approach...with no approach plate. A minute probability perhaps, but military testing has to account for these kinds of things.
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post #89 of 93
2/23/12 at 11:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Garion View Post

Oh, in that case it makes perfect sense for the US AirForce to cancel their order of 18.000 Apple iPads. Because ... the PDF-reader the AirForce considered installing on them turned out to be developed by a Russian guy with no ties to the Russian government what so ever.
Yeah, it all makes sense to me now.

Why not? Security is not a minor issue. If there were back hooks into the software, it could:

1) give away current flight activities (based on which approach plates are being read)
2) planned flight activity (based on which maps, approach plates, etc. are being downloaded)
3) possibly provide an avenue of attack to both DoD IT systems and the aircraft's avionics (based on the level of intended integration with the aircraft and the office computers used for flight planning).

All that said, I doubt his nationality had anything to do with it (though US law does require only US citizens and nationals from approved countries to work on critical defence technology). In this case, it just may have been a lack of certification for the device and the apps.
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post #90 of 93
2/23/12 at 12:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Garion View Post

Hey, US AirForce? It's even worse than that! The iPads you've ordered were all built in China! You know ... communist China!

Oh, and about them Russians? I don't know if you know this, but erhm ... the Soviet Union kinda went belly-up two Decades ago. Yup, that's right, Sir. They ain't commies no more. Just thought you might want to know.

*salutes and facepalms*

Please pardon me - but I'm pretty incensed over your comments. Sir, are you clueless? (because I don't think you're joking).

If China was providing security software to the military iPads - I would be against it. They are in fact an ultra socialist government (no such think as communism in real-world practice IMHO). They have HACKED into our satellites, large US companies and US gov't agencies. So much for your eye rolling.

Secondly... seriously, you trust the Russians. I won't even bother to go into detail but my view is that I agree with finding another solution. BTW, I'm not keen on security apps from Cuba or Venezuela, etc. in case that's your idea of "closer to home."

(and why not wait for the iPad3 while they are creating solutions for other issues?)
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post #91 of 93
2/23/12 at 12:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sipadan View Post

Evil. Lol. You mean every country that is not aligned with US policies or way of life is evil, right?
Good soldier.

Come on Sipadan - this is a duh moment. Essentially, enemy countries (to the US -- maybe not where you're from) but it's an undeclared war. China & Russia, etc. are involved in major malicious hacking into US gov't & co's. The whole "axis of evil" thing is just shorthand. Again, essentially true.

What you're missing is that they are intentionally warring with us... this is more than misaligned policy.
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post #92 of 93
2/23/12 at 3:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

I'd trust software made by one of our country's formerly mortal enemies before I trusted anything by Adobe being used for government/military stuff.

Crap's not secure at ALL.

Are you saying that encrypted PDFs are not secure? Links?

Did Adobe kick your dog or what?

Life is too short to drink bad coffee.

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Life is too short to drink bad coffee.

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post #93 of 93
2/23/12 at 3:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone View Post

Are you saying that encrypted PDFs are not secure? Links?

Did Adobe kick your dog or what?

Dmitry Sklyarov didn't seem to think Adobe's encryption was a problem. (yeah, I know that was 11 years ago and I can only hope things are a little more robust now)
Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face? - Jack D. Ripper
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Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face? - Jack D. Ripper
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