15th MEU tests new tablets, communications tools on Ospreys: Marines deployed to the Middle East and Asia-Pacific region are the first to field test a new communications suite that gives troops in the back of aircraft unprecedented access to information and communications while in flight.
Members of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit are now able to send and receive text, photo, audio and video messages on handheld tablets from the back of an MV-22B Osprey or heavy-lift helicopter, said Maj. Chuck Buckley, the MEU’s communications officer. It's made possible by a new roll-on, roll-off communications device called the Digital Interoperability Package, which maintainers can bolt into aircraft to provide Marines in transit with up-to-the-minute intelligence.
The MEU now has six kits installed on two CH-53 Super Stallions and four Ospreys. Each of those aircraft received a simple modification in order to accommodate the pod, which takes a pair of Marines about 15 minutes to set up, Buckley said.
