Law Enforcement Solved Unified Situational Awareness with TAK

Unified Situational Awareness

There is historic and persistent need for a unified SA system for law enforcement and other public safety personnel. A unified SA system will include personnel accountability (knowing who is where) during a crisis is paramount for responders at all levels. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the use of smartphones by law enforcement and public safety agencies. Smartphones have become a powerful tool for blue force tracking (BFT) and mission planning.

Many applications exist which take advantage of smartphones for BFT, but very few of them can communicate with each other. The lack of interoperability between disparate tools presently allows for scenarios where dangerous blue on blue or blue on green contact could occur. By using a central hub (in this case TAK Server), all SA data has a single focal point ensuring uniformity.  

FBI Hosted Resources

By hosting the TAK Server service and providing federal, state and local public safety agencies with free access to this suite of interoperable COP products, the FBI is removing the cost of entry for use of a powerful SA toolkit. With no cost of entry; mission planning, situational awareness, and real time interoperability between all levels of first responders is achievable resulting in superior officer safety, as well as enhanced command, control, and communications. Ultimately, this ensures a safer and better response to critical events.

Contact the FBI TAK program at takrequest@leo.gov for more information. 

DHS TAK Program

The Team Awareness Kit (TAK) provides real-time access and collaboration channels to organizations within the Homeland Security Enterprise in various cost models. When we think of situational awareness for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) team operators, we often think of split second delivery of information and life saving alerts to inform those who help protect us in an emergency. TAK is one of those breakthroughs in technology.

Over the past five years, DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has successfully leveraged this system to support federal agency response during natural disasters and coordinated operations. TAK clients use the native communications built into the hardware (e.g. cellular, wi-fi, etc.) to pass data across an existing network to the TAK server (and onto other devices with TAK clients). ATAK supports a "plug-in" architecture, which allows non-native communications provided by external communications devices (e.g. SATCOM, MANET, etc.), to interface with ATAK and pass data across the networks created by those external communication devices. This allows ATAK to be used with technologies which solve many of the current "comms" issues encountered by end users. 

Learn more about TAK’s products used by the military

ATAK-Mil →

Android TAK (ATAK) application is a mission planning, geospatial, Full Motion Video (FMV), and system administrator tool that reduces the operational footprint from a tactical laptop to a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) mobile device or tablet.
ATAK Plugins →

In computing, a plug-in is a software component that adds a specific feature to an existing computer program. When a program supports plug-ins, it enables customization. The ATAK open Application Programming Interface (API) facilitates plugin development that interacts with the underlying core application, i.e., the mapping application, as well as with the ATAK and Android tools. Plugins allow for enhanced capabilities for specific mission sets (Direct Action, Combat Advising, Law Enforcement, Protection Operations, Boarder Security, Disaster Response).
WinTAK-Mil →

The Windows Tactical Assault Kit (WinTAK) is a software application and mapping framework for Windows devices. WinTAK has been designed and developed to run on Windows operating system both in a tactical environment and in a Command and Control environment. The WinTAK software application is an extensible moving map display that integrates imagery, map and overlay information to provide enhanced collaboration and Situational Awareness (SA) over a tactical meshed network.
WinTAK Civ →

The WinTAK-CIV feature set is similar to ATAK-CIV’s, having been developed to run on Windows PCs and Windows Surface devices. WinTAK-CIV is made available to support the principles of civil authority emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation and recovery. The WinTAK user experience is consistent with Microsoft applications while maintaining the look and feel of ATAK. Unlike ATAK, WinTAK supports multiple instances of a tool, such as a video player, thereby increasing utility for incident command and operation centers.
See TAK in Action
Army Fleshing Out Joint All-Domain Command, Control →

https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2021/6/10/army-fleshing-out-joint-all-domain-command-control

June 11, 2021 — Facing complex battlefields in the future, the Army is hard at work developing a network of interconnected platforms that can rapidly send information to commanders and troops and link sensors and shooters.
ATAK resource viewable on MMA video in real-time. →

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jad4qZfb3k

June 08, 2021 — As the DFPC Multi Mission Aircraft (MMA) observes the Beavertail Fire in Infrared, they were able to see the real time location of the Mesa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO), Fire Marshall (Win ACREE). The MCSO Fire Marshall was far below the aircraft and too small for the camera.
Anti-Jamming Kits for Dismounted Soldiers →

https://insidegnss.com/trx/

June 02, 2021 — TRX Systems delivered its Dismount Electronic Warfare (EW) Kit to the U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO). The system is a prototype to extend Electronic Warfare (EW) and Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) for the dismounted warfighter.
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