Word spread quickly among naval officers about the test of a portable video-sharing station aboard the guided-missile cruiser Vicksburg. At 567 feet long, the Navy's cruisers -- and its even smaller destroyers -- are not large enough to accommodate fixed workstations for receiving, processing and sharing video and associated intelligence. That's a problem because the Navy wants ships like the Vicksburg -- built primarily to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles and hunt for submarines -- to scout surrounding waters for pirates or terrorists, like those who sneaked up to the destroyer Cole 12 years ago and blew a hole in its side, killing 17. The crews need the ability to view video and share it with the Office of Naval Intelligence.
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