Wow, US Army to order 18,000 iPads!

By: Aseem Gaurav on February 12, 2012

In order to save space and cut down on the amount of paper charts and manuals its pilots and flight crews carry, the US Air Force plans to buy up to 18,000 iPads or similar tablets. The move follows the decision of various commercial airlines adopting the dominant iPad tablet.

Apple’s popular tablet was named in a notice on a government procurement website.  The armed service also said it would also consider other names such as include Research In Motion’s PlayBook or Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. The procurement could range between 63 and 18,000. 

According to the US army, the tablets would be used as electronic flight bags for flight crew members in place of space consuming manuals and navigation charts used by pilots.

Analyst feels that the purchase decision would give a big boost to the Cupertino-based company’s attempt to infiltrate the government sector. Apple has been eating away RIM’s market share in the US government market. 

The Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are already using Apple products.