Tactical Nav

Searching for Bin Laden? Now there's an app for that.

As Army Capt. Johnathan Springer geared up for a deployment to Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne, he scoured the Internet for a smartphone app that would help him in the field. There wasn't one, so Springer decided to build an app himself.

Tactical Nav is an iPhone app that helps soldiers in mapping, plotting, and photographing waypoints on the field of battle. Expected to be available in the App Store some time next month, it works like a wartime location-based service, conveying coordinates to supporting units.

"I've been an iPhone user for quite a while and I'm obviously a Mac guy," Springer told CBS News. "I'm a heavy pusher of the iPhone because of what it can do and I see the benefits, not only at home, but here in combat."

It's a little more technical than the directions found in the average iPhone app. Tactical Nav uses the phone's camera and GPS to do things like call in air support, direct artillery file, and relay information to others using the app. Using a gridded map, it also recognizes specific latitude and longitude coordinates.

"My wish is to provide a soldier with a very inexpensive, accurate tool to help them in combat, or back in the States if they're hunters or outdoor enthusiasts," Springer said. He noted that the app is simple enough for a civilian to use while grocery shopping. "I've got to think what do my soldiers need to go into battle? What do my soldiers need that could save their lives? So that's what I'm thinking about right now."

The 31-year-old from Ft. Wayne, Indiana said the idea for Tactical Nav came to him in a dream last July. Springer used $26,000 of his own money to work with developers and a design company to realize that dream. Clearly created from a soldier's point of view, Tactical Nav is detail-oriented, CBS said. It was tested using various armored vehicles and artillery in harsh conditions and from remote outposts.

Springer, a battalion fire support officer, is on his third deployment. He said he hopes to have the app available for download for the iPhone and iPod touch by the first week of February and he's considering an iPad version.