The Air Force has announced it is testing the use of iPads with the 20th Maintenance Group Airmen at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, who will use them to view maintenance technical orders.
In recent years the Air Force has looked to iPads for a variety of uses, for example as electronic flight bags – something it says could save $50 million.
In the case of Shaw AFB, the pilot programis being used to test if the iPads can effectively replace more expensive tough book laptop computers while still delivering technical order instructions sufficiently. Reportedly, there have been no problems with iPads breaking, and they are easier to check out and carry around or use. The Air Force said tough books have suffered frequent crashes and limited battery life. If the pilot proves successful Shaw will get another 292 iPads.
