Air Force cancels purchase of 2,861 iPads because of a communist app

A couple weeks ago, we reported that the US Air Force was looking into buying a substantial amount of iPads in order to get rid of all of the paper and charts in their cargo planes, replacing the pilot manuals with electronic versions of the documents.

The deal actually fell through, as NextGov reports the Air Force cancelled its request for bids for 2,861 iPads because of one single application developed in Russia…

The procurement — kicked off in January — specified the use of GoodReader software developed in Russia to meet mission security requirements.

Michael McCarthy, director of the Army’s smartphone project, Connecting Soldiers to Digital Applications, based in Fort Bliss, Texas, told Nextgov last week he would not use software developed in Russia because he would not want to expose end users to potential risk.

Although the title of my post is very much sarcastic, I do understand the reasoning behind this decision. At this point, I assume the Air Force will look for a different application to use – Made in USA, of course – and will reopen its request for bids for several thousands iPads then once they find a patriotic replacement.