WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Perennially short of translators, the Pentagon wants a new, handheld, sophisticated language translation device for soldiers.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has announced phase II of the Translation System for Tactical Use program. DARPA envisions a robust system that will allow soldiers to use the device to issue commands or ask questions of locals, and have the locals answer back and be understood by the device.
The current prototypes of tactical translation systems are pre-programmed with stock, commonly used phrases for soldiers, but they offer no capability to translate the responses given to them or to handle free-form communication.
They are also limited to a handful of languages -- Thai, Mandarin, Iraqi Arabic, Farsi (Iran), and Pashto (Afghanistan).
DARPA wants a system that not only has voice recognition and translation capabilities, but can also be programmed within 100 days for a new language.
Phase I of the program is to be completed in April, and was meant to demonstrate a system that can translate the speech of soldiers to locals, but with no capabilities for a response.
Offerors have until January 2007 to issue their final proposal for TRANSTAC but are encouraged to submit proposals before March 24. Moreover, offerors are encouraged to file an abstract before their final proposal to make sure they are on the right track, according to DARPA's Feb. 13 announcement.
