This paper presents advances in the development of specialized mobile applications for combat decision support utilizing augmented reality technologies used for the production of contextual data delivered to any tactical smartphone. Handhelds and decision support systems have been present in military operations since the 1990s. Due to the development of hardware and software platforms, smartphones are capable of running complex algorithms for individual soldiers and low-level commander support. The utilization of tactical data (force location, composition, and tasks) in dynamic mobile networks that are accessible anywhere during a mission provides means for the development of situational awareness and decision superiority. These two elements are key factors in 21st-century military operations, as they influence the efficiency of recognition, identification, and targeting. Combat support tools and their analytical capabilities can serve as recon data hubs, but most of all they can support and simplify complex analytical tasks for commanders. These tasks mainly include topographical and tactical orientation within the battlespace. This paper documents the ideas for and construction details of mobile support tools used for supporting the specific operational activities of military personnel during combat and crisis management. The presented augmented reality-based evaluation methods formulate new capabilities for the visualization and identification of military threats, mission planning characteristics, tasks, and checkpoints, which help individuals to orientate within their current situation. The developed software platform, mobile common operational picture (mCOP), demonstrates all research findings and delivers a personalized combat-oriented distributed mobile system, supporting blue-force tracking capabilities and reconnaissance data fusion as well as threat-level evaluations for military and crisis management scenarios. The mission data are further fused with Geographic Information System (GIS) topographical and vector data, supporting terrain evaluations for mission planning and execution. The application implements algorithms for path finding, movement task scheduling, assistance, and analysis, as well as military potential evaluation, threat-level estimation, and location tracking. The features of the mCOP mobile application were designed and organized as mission-critical functions. The presented research demonstrates and proves the usefulness of deploying mobile applications for combat support, situation awareness development, and the delivery of augmented reality-based threat-level analytical data to extend the capabilities and properties of software tools applied for supporting military and border protection operations.
A case study of Augmented Reality simulation system application in a chemistry course