Apple iPads are one of the best tablets money can buy, and there’s no doubt about that. We have previously seen iPads perform multiple tasks such as being an infotainment partner, but never have we heard of them being used to fire modern weapons in jets.
How iPads are helping in the war zone came to light through a video obtained by The Telegraph, which shows a Ukrainian pilot using an iPad in the cockpit of a Soviet Su-27 fighter jet. According to the report, these tablets allow pilots to control a wide range of Western-supplied weapons such as U.S. AGM-88 missiles, French Hammer bombs, and U.K. Storm Shadow missiles.
Interestingly, iPads also assist Ukrainian pilots in accessing essential information such as maps and flight data. Therefore, Apple iPads are serving as one of the key additions to older jets in combat operations in the ongoing conflict with Russia.
William LaPlante, the U.S. undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, says that the Ukrainian Air Force mainly uses old Russian and Soviet-era planes. With help from the United States, they’ve made it possible to use Western weapons on these old planes. Pilots control these weapons with iPads. What’s remarkable is that they’re using these modified planes in combat just a week after getting them.
The Su-27, which first flew in 1985, is still a powerful fighter jet used in countries like Russia and China. But it couldn’t control the new missiles and bombs given by Western allies to help Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict.
That said, using iPads in aviation isn’t entirely new. Commercial airlines have been using them for years as electronic flight bags, which means they don’t need to carry heavy paper documents. Plus, this saves weight and fuel.
Besides military uses, Apple products have been handy in other ways during the conflict. For example, one Ukrainian used Find My to track retreating Russian forces after discovering they had stolen his AirPods from his home in Kyiv.