On Wednesday, defense contractor Raytheon introduced 'One Force Tracker' - a military-grade iPhone app that aims at benefiting from the specific technologies of the increasingly popular Apple smartphone.

The One Force Tracker app, which is being showcased by Raytheon at the Intelligence Warfighting Summit in Tucson, will provide live data that would help track the location of friends and foes on real-time maps, thanks to the iPhone's GPS features.

In addition, the app will also facilitate inter-communication between military units. The app makes use of a map of the battlefield to transmit the location of units as well as to present battle plans from a server in real time.

The mission brief of the One Force Tracker app is as a "situational awareness application based on military messaging standards." Furthermore, boasting social-networking features, the app will also facilitate spot reports, call for emergencies, and text messaging between soldiers.

However, to make the app useful for the battlefield, Raytheon will have to request Apple to make the requisite military-grade modifications to the iPhone OS - like a support network running for iPhones at the place of deployment of the soldiers; and reporting GPS position even when the app is not open.

In case Raytheon-proposed changes are approved by Apple, it would be the first widely-known instance of Apple sanctioning exceptional accommodations for government after the TEMPEST Macintosh SE/30 in 1989.