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Situational awareness is the ability for military leaders and others to know what is happening in any given situation and to make better decisions faster without having military personnel stop what they are doing. A new technology may bring military weapons into the internet age and supply more situational awareness.

The “intelligent rail” – I-Rail – can be placed on rifles and other weapons to provide physical space to integrate real-time video and other analytics, transmitting the info back to a command center. It also serves as a power source and software platform for other technologies — such as ammunition counters — that can help make weapons and physical hardware smarter and more responsive, according to bizjournals.com,

Smart device startup T-Worx has spent nearly eight years developing the technology, which is a software and hardware platform that fits seamlessly within weapons to provide centralized power and data analytics to improve operator performance and safety.

Executive Chairman Devin Schain said: “The I-Rail system is able to connect to the battlefield network streaming video and data that was previously unavailable.” “A system like the I-Rail enhances situational awareness for the soldiers and commanders with rounds fired, positional data, and targeting imagery, to name a few.”

“You don’t have to take your hand off the rifle to see what is going on or to communicate with headquarters,” Schain said about the technology.

The US Army said it was dedicating $25 billion to its effort to produce a new generation of smarter weaponry and more intelligent command systems.