Army to host Tactical Assault Kit virtual workshop for industry, federal agencies

By CCDC C5ISR Center Public AffairsSeptember 23, 2020

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1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Members of the 6th Special Operations Squadron use a tablet running Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) to upload coordinates during an exercise showcasing the capabilities of the Advanced Battle Management System at Duke Field, Fla., on Dec. 17, 2019. The Army is hosting a virtual TAK workshop to expedite the development and integration of situational awareness tools. (Photo Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Joshua J. Garcia) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A 96th Security Forces Squadron base defense operations center controller plots a cordon area using the Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) on July 5, 2018, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The TAK virtual offsite will offer stakeholders from across the DoD, federal agencies and industry an opportunity to exchange information and identify critical needs. (Photo Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr.) VIEW ORIGINAL
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3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – The Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) is a map-based software application that enables coordination among thousands of users with features such as a position data, chat, mission planning and shared overlays. It is compatible with Android, Apple iOS and Windows. The TAK virtual workshop will offer tracks for software development, programmatic updates and training. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army CCDC C5ISR Center) VIEW ORIGINAL

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — The U.S. Army is hosting a virtual workshop to expedite the development and integration of situational awareness tools Sept. 29 – Oct. 2.

The Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) is a map-based software application that enables coordination among thousands of users with features such as a position data, chat, mission planning and shared overlays. It is compatible with Android, Apple iOS and Windows.

The Tactical Assault Kit virtual offsite will offer an opportunity for stakeholders from across the Department of Defense (DoD), federal agencies and industry to exchange information and identify critical needs. The event will offer tracks for software development, programmatic updates and training on TAK platforms.

“The intent of these sessions is to learn from issues that may have arisen in the past year, produce innovative capabilities and reduce duplicative efforts,” said Josh Sterling, director of the TAK Product Center at the The Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Center – a component of Army Futures Command’s Combat Capabilities Development Command.

“Any time we can get more feedback and lessons learned, it’s a data point we can use to improve the platform. I think this is a great way to generate cross-team collaboration that will spur both the development cycle and integration as we continue to push and facilitate a more universal type TAK operation.”

As the central software development hub for all TAK efforts, including 15 DoD programs of record, the C5ISR Center’s TAK Product Center provides software updates and testing for an enhanced user experience.

To foster innovation, the TAK Product Center approved the public release of a non-military variant for federal and government agencies – known as the Android Team Awareness Kit-Civilian (ATAK-CIV) application – on Google Play and the open-source Standard ATAK Software Development Kit on TAKmaps.com.

“TAK is an extensible platform, meaning that we give you a baseline and based on your mission requirements you can build on that baseline to bridge capability gaps,” said Mark Roberts, deputy director for the TAK Product Center.

“Anyone who has a job requirement to display point location information – the military, DoD and federal agencies, state and local authorities, firefighters and emergency responders – will benefit from these sessions. This is a great opportunity to give them a peek at what’s being done around the TAK community,” he said.

Registration for the offsite is available at https://tak.gov/offsite until Sept. 28.

For more information on the event, visit https://youtu.be/MQ2okD5RaYc or contact the C5ISR Center Public Affairs Office: usarmy.apg.ccdc-c5isr.mbx.pao@mail.mil.

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The C5ISR Center is the Army’s applied research and advanced technology development center for C5ISR capabilities. As the Army’s primary integrator of C5ISR technologies and systems, the center develops and matures capabilities that support all six Army modernization priorities, enabling information dominance and tactical overmatch for the joint warfighter.

The C5ISR Center is an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. Through collaboration across the command’s core technical competencies, CCDC leads in the discovery, development and delivery of the technology-based capabilities required to make Soldiers more lethal to win our nation’s wars and come home safely. CCDC is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command.

Related Links

U.S. Army Futures Command

Army.mil: Worldwide News

STAND-TO!: U.S. Army Modernization Strategy