Thursday, January 6 2005 18:09 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: Indian Army soldiers will soon be equipped with a hand held computer for coordinating with their comrades in their combat operations.

The Army is conducting final user trials of - Situational Awareness and Tactical Handheld Information - (SATHI) in Jammu and Kashmir testing the hand held computers, built by a Bangalore-based software firm, in the battlefield against terrorists.

Encore Software, the pioneer of Simputer - the low-cost hand held device jointly developed with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) professors with an aim to bridge the digital divide has built SATHI along with a team of Army engineers.

"We have deployed about 90 SATHIs for user trials by the Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir," Encore General Manager Samyeer Metrani said in Bangalore.

The world's first integrated battle computer, SATHI works on the open source Linux platform, customised Geographical Information System (GIS), internal radio modem, encrypted software and has powerful batteries and capabilities to send text messages.

SATHI sends its position through radio frequency on a constant basis, while the encrypted software has a mechanism to go blank if the device falls into hands of the enemy.

Army's Information systems engineers in the last two years have helped design SATHI that weighs 875 grams and can work in the hot deserts of Rajasthan to the biting cold of the Siachen, said Metrani.

The US Army had used a hand held computer, developed by an IT firm Talletch in operation "Desert Storm" in Iraq, which is based on a iPod design with more external attachments.

"Ours is an integrated product that has been tested and proven in extreme conditions," Metrani said, adding that about 120 units have been deployed in various conditions so far.

SATHI has been lauded by President A P J Abdul Kalam, while Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) officials have approached Encore for further details.

Encore is adding new applications like a browser for Internet access, a port for printer connectivity and games in SATHI responding to soldiers' requests, he said.