May 10, 2007: In another example of the commercial
sector moving past military research projects, the U.S. Army has been spending
several months trying out the new WiMax wi-fi technology for military use.
Based on the popular wi-fi (802.11) technology, WiMax provides much longer
range (8-20 kilometers, or twice that if there are no obstacles) . The army has
long envisioned something like WiMax for battlefield use, but has not got their
own technology even close to the point where WiMax is now. So, the soldiers
thought, why not just adapt WiMax (add crypto and test reliability) for combat
use? Indeed. Why not. The testing will probably continue late into the year
before a decision is made.