Boot Camp For Biometrics

Can biometrics withstand battlefield punishment? Military officials need to be sure, so the Defense Department and the Communications Electronic Command are set to begin a stateside test. Fingerprint-detection devices for use by network-management staff will be deployed in Army vehicles that are used to keep the Tactical Internet, the Army's communications network for battle, functional and secure.

Jay Kowalczyk, a Defense Department Fusion Center liaison, says the test's mission is to see how the devices perform when exposed to high heat, rain, and even electromagnetic pulses from nuclear blasts.