Let me guess, we'll get the IpadA

No, what will happen is this:

1) The AF will award a contract for 18,000 iPads for AMC.
2) Acer, Asus, or Sony (or whoever) will file a complaint saying they're weren't given a fair shake.
3) The AF will cancel the iPad order
4) Capt _____ will still have to haul his 120 lb world-wide FLIP kit to the jet tomorrow.

True statement...But you forgot to add that JWOD will complain for not being the "prime supplier."

Or do like AFSOC did - disable everything and turn the iPad into a very expensive e-reader...

Making a Chinese built electronic product a key part of military infrastructure sounds like a great idea to me.

Exactly. Countdown to comm squad panic meltdown tantrum just like the thumb drives.

They were briefing a Two-Star today in my squadron. Guy doing the brief is a bro; I like him, and he does good work. I asked what he thought. "Great! No more paper!"

I asked if he, or anyone else, had tried flying with it in a fighter-type cockpit. I asked if anyone had tried it in bright sunlight, or dark night. I asked if it had been flown under high-g-load.

Nope.

But that is how these decisions are made.

The Air Force made a decision to put a new ejection seat in the T-38, at a cost of 1 million per jet. Sounded good on paper....but no one tried it as a prototype. Turns out you can't see squat from the back seat.

I think the ipads will not be that handy in a fighter-type airplane.

Given my druthers, I would prefer a single frequency GCA or a well integrated GPS/INS NAV system that already has all of the required information. The Ipad is just a poor substitute for what should already be part of an integrated nav system.

Nor would they be to useful in a helicopter as well, especially flying with doors off like we do in the HH-60. Additionally, just think of the possible OPSEC repurcussions from losing one of those things.