Digital Battlespace
AFCEA West 2012: Dell furthers military products
Dell has confirmed that its Tactical Mobile Data Center (T-MDC) has received interest from potential 'elite' customers, including NATO.
'All militaries across the world operate in the same way and have the same needs. I think we've put together a solution that a lot of customers want. It does have some appeal within NATO,' Joe Trickey, Dell rugged mobility and digital forensics marketing manager told Shephard at the AFCEA West conference in San Diego on 24 January.
Trickey confirmed that the DoD purchased the system some six months ago, and other 'elite' agencies are interested.
Based on an ISU 90 container, the system provides a 'critical functionality' and enables militaries to transport computer systems safely on military transport and be up and working again 'within minutes' once in theatre.
It also contains an infrastructure manager within it that profiles the systems it contains and aids the user in managing the system.
Trickey also described future developments that are 'just over the horizon' for the company's range of rugged computing systems.
He said that fingerprint and iris readers are capabilities that the company is looking into, and 'the technology is there, it is just a case of getting the military to communicate with us'.
The Latitude E6420 XFR, released in June, is the third generation of Dell's rugged laptops, and is a modular build that means the DVD drive can be interchanged with capabilities such as an extra battery that takes the battery life up to 14 hours.
'The military is a huge driver of this; there is a number of standards that we work to,' Trickey explained, adding that and working to these tough requirements leads to the system being applicable for other customers such as the police.
It is also made of a polymer-based material that is more impact-resistant than magnesium alloy that is usually used, and also reduces the weight and cost of the system.
It has the addition of HDMI ports, smart card readers, and is fully compatible with the company's desktop variant of the system, which results in 'one common image saving costs; from a deployment perspective this makes it far easier for the customer’, Trickey explained.
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