By RC Porter
April 1, 2015
This artist’s rendering shows how the Persistent Close Air Support program allows ground troops and air crews to jointly select and employ precision-guided weapons from aircraft. (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)
As Libya spiraled into chaos last year, U.S. Marines deployed there used a little-known computer application called KILSWITCH to map their routes and emergency plans. The program gave them not only detailed GPS-guided maps on handheld devices but targeting information and detailed maps of nearby compounds in case they came under fire.
The application – spelled out as Kinetic Integration Lightweight Software Individual Tactical Combat Handheld – is part of a broader high-tech program known as Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) launched to improve how U.S. troops under fire call for and receive close air support. But it hints at something larger: The Pentagon is rethinking how U.S. ground troops operate, with plans to push more information and technology on the battlefield to lower-ranking enlisted soldiers and Marines than ever before.
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