December30, 2006: Germany is spending half a billion dollars to equip about 1,500 armored vehicles and trucks with digital communications equipment similar to what American forces are using in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Germans are seeking the same "battlefield Internet" capability, as well as the locating system found in "Blue Force Tracker." The first vehicles will be equipped in 2007, but all will not be completed until 2011. Germany expects to make use of these capabilities in peacekeeping operations, where small groups of vehicles, or even individual vehicles, are widely separated while on patrols in hostile territory. The ability to quickly exchange video, pictures and location information can be very useful. The upgrades will include beefed up power supplies, air conditioning and NBC (nuclear, chemical and biological) protection.