Can ATAK use our ArcGIS layers directly?

Yes. Esri's TAK Plugin to ArcGIS lets ATAK browse and cache ArcGIS feature, tile and vector-tile content with portal authentication, and stream device positions back to ArcGIS Dashboards and ArcGIS Mission. For WinTAK, iTAK or non-plugin scenarios we bridge through the server instead.

How do TAK positions get into ArcGIS?

Two routes: ArcGIS Velocity's TAK Client feed subscribes to your server's CoT stream (XML, optional certificate auth, filterable by CoT type) for real-time analytics; or a lightweight bridge we build writes positions and history into a hosted feature service for Enterprise deployments without Velocity.

Do you build ATAK plugins for iOS?

iTAK does not support plugins. For iOS users we deliver capability through data packages, server-side feeds, video aliases and, where needed, a companion iOS app.

Can this work fully offline?

Yes — offline basemap packages, overlays and elevation on the device, an edge TAK Server on a vehicle or kit, and adapters that queue and forward when connectivity returns.

TAK Integration

Team Awareness Kit, wired into your GIS

TAK Server deployments, Cursor-on-Target feeds from sensors and systems, ATAK and WinTAK plugins, ArcGIS-to-TAK bridges, offline data packages and video — so the picture on the operator's phone and the picture in the operations centre are the same picture.

Discuss your project What's included

ATAK · WinTAK · iTAK: clients we integrate
CoT XML · Protobuf: TAK protocol, both flavours
ArcGIS ↔ TAK: bi-directional bridges

8 tracks · TLS 8089 · federation on

→ ArcGIS Velocity

CoT streamconnecting

Last event (XML)

<event …/>

A simulated TAK Server: CoT events from ATAK units, vehicles and an ADS-B feed arrive on the map and stream onward to ArcGIS.

01What's included

9 services in this practice

Jump to any service below — each one is a capability we deliver on its own or as part of a larger programme.

01TAK Server Deployment & Hardening 02Cursor-on-Target Feeds & Sensor Integration 03ArcGIS ↔ TAK Bridging 04ATAK & WinTAK Plugin Development 05Data Packages & Offline Basemaps 06Data Sync, Missions & Distribution 07Video & ISR Feeds 08TAK-Based Common Operating Picture 09QGIS & Open-Source GIS Pipeline

01 / 09

TAK Server Deployment & Hardening

Stand up TAK Server the way an agency can actually run it: official TAK Server from TAK.gov, or OpenTAKServer / FreeTAKServer / CloudTAK where a lighter open-source stack fits. Certificate authority and enrolment, users and groups, federation between servers, Docker or on-premises installs, and DDIL-ready deployments on rugged edge hardware.

TAK Server
OpenTAKServer
FreeTAKServer
CloudTAK
Docker
PostgreSQL

What we deliver

Server install (official, OpenTAKServer, FreeTAKServer or CloudTAK) on cloud, on-prem or edge
PKI: CA, client certificate enrolment, truststores and rotation procedures
Groups, device profiles and role-based data visibility
Federation between agency / coalition servers with data-flow filters
Monitoring, backups, upgrade runbooks and hardening checklist

Ask about TAK Server

02 / 09

Cursor-on-Target Feeds & Sensor Integration

Anything with a position can become a CoT event: GPS trackers, vehicle telematics, ADS-B and AIS receivers, drones, Meshtastic mesh radios, alarm systems and third-party APIs. We build adapters that publish well-formed CoT — correct type codes, UIDs, stale times and detail blocks — over TLS in XML or TAK Protocol (Protobuf), and consume CoT back into your systems.

pytak
takproto
Node.js
MQTT
PostGIS
TLS

What we deliver

Adapters in Python (pytak / takproto) or Node.js with reconnect, back-pressure and health checks
CoT type mapping (MIL-STD-2525 / APP-6 codes) and detail schemas agreed with operators
ADS-B, AIS, GPS/telematics, Meshtastic and API feeds
CoT consumers: log tracks to PostGIS, trigger alerts, forward to other systems

Ask about Cursor-on-Target Feeds

03 / 09

ArcGIS ↔ TAK Bridging

Connect the two worlds in both directions. Esri's TAK Plugin to ArcGIS lets ATAK consume ArcGIS feature, tile and vector-tile content with portal authentication and streams device positions back to ArcGIS Dashboards and ArcGIS Mission. ArcGIS Velocity's TAK Client feed ingests CoT for real-time analytics. Where those don't fit — Enterprise without Velocity, non-Esri stacks — we build the bridge: FeatureServer → CoT broadcasters and CoT → hosted feature layer writers with position history.

ArcGIS Velocity
ArcGIS Enterprise
ArcGIS Online
Feature services
Python

ArcGIS Velocity

ArcGIS Enterprise

ArcGIS Online

ArcGIS Dashboards

What we deliver

TAK Plugin to ArcGIS rollout: portal access, protected content, offline caching, device tracking
ArcGIS Velocity TAK Client feed configuration with certificate auth and CoT type filters
Custom bridges: ArcGIS FeatureServer → CoT and CoT → feature service (PLI history, private/public layers)
Dashboards / Mission views of TAK units alongside enterprise GIS layers

Ask about ArcGIS ↔

04 / 09

ATAK & WinTAK Plugin Development

When the mission needs a tool ATAK doesn't have, we build it: custom map layers and overlays, data-collection forms, sensor panels, workflow tools and integrations with agency systems. ATAK-CIV plugins in Java/Kotlin with the official SDK; WinTAK plugins in C#/.NET; signed, versioned and distributed through your TAK Server or MDM. (iTAK has no plugin model — we cover iOS needs with data packages, feeds and companion apps.)

ATAK-CIV SDK
Java / Kotlin
WinTAK SDK
C# / .NET
Gradle

What we deliver

ATAK plugin (Java/Kotlin, ATAK-CIV SDK): map layers, tools, forms, sensor UIs
WinTAK plugin (C#/.NET) for command-post and vehicle workstations
Plugin signing, release channels and update process
Operator documentation and training material

Ask about ATAK &

05 / 09

Data Packages & Offline Basemaps

Field units rarely have bandwidth. We produce ready-to-load data packages and offline map sources for ATAK/WinTAK/iTAK: MBTiles raster tiles rendered from vector-tile basemaps, tile.xml sources for XYZ/WMS/WMTS services, KML/KMZ and GeoJSON overlays, elevation data and reference grids — sized to an area of operations and delivered through the server or as ATAK.zip packages. Our own Vector To Raster and Offline Map Data Generator apps grew out of this work.

MBTiles
GeoPackage
tile.xml
KML/KMZ
GDAL
TileServer / MapTiler

What we deliver

Area-of-operations basemap packages (MBTiles, GeoPackage) with topo, imagery and hybrid styles
tile.xml / server-hosted map sources for online use
Overlay packages: KML/KMZ, GeoJSON, GPX, CSV → CoT
Elevation (DTED / DEM) and grid overlays (MGRS, GARS)
Automated package builds on a schedule or per request

Ask about Data Packages

06 / 09

Data Sync, Missions & Distribution

Use TAK Server's Mission API and Data Sync to distribute overlays, packages and checklists to the right groups, keep them updated, and automate the workflow from your systems — publish a new incident perimeter and every subscribed device has it.

TAK Server Mission API
Data Sync
REST
Python

What we deliver

Mission / Data Sync setup with group-based subscriptions
Automated publishing from GIS systems via the Mission API
ExCheck checklists and data package workflows where supported
Audit trail and replay of mission data

Ask about Data Sync,

07 / 09

Video & ISR Feeds

Drone, body-worn, fixed-camera and ISR video delivered into TAK clients as streams operators can open from the map. We deploy stream relays (RTSP / RTMP / SRT), publish video aliases through the server, and turn platform metadata into CoT so the sensor's position and footprint appear alongside the picture.

RTSP / RTMP / SRT
MediaMTX
FFmpeg
KLV metadata
CoT

What we deliver

Stream relay / transcoding (MediaMTX or equivalent) sized for the network
Video source publishing to ATAK / WinTAK video tools
Sensor metadata → CoT (position, field of view) adapters
Recording, retention and bandwidth policies

Ask about Video &

08 / 09

TAK-Based Common Operating Picture

A COP for the operations centre that shows TAK units, incidents, sensors and enterprise GIS layers in one place — WebTAK or CloudTAK for the browser, ArcGIS Dashboards fed by Velocity for Esri shops, or a custom Mapbox / MapLibre console. Tracks are logged to PostGIS for replay, reporting and after-action review.

WebTAK / CloudTAK
ArcGIS Dashboards
MapLibre
PostGIS
WebSocket

ArcGIS Dashboards

ArcGIS Velocity

What we deliver

Browser COP (WebTAK / CloudTAK, ArcGIS Dashboards or custom console)
Track history and replay from PostGIS
Alerting rules (geofences, stale units, sensor thresholds)
Reports and after-action exports

Ask about TAK-Based Common

09 / 09

QGIS & Open-Source GIS Pipeline

Not every agency runs ArcGIS. We connect TAK to QGIS-based workflows: QGIS-authored overlays exported as KML/GeoJSON network links, GeoServer or QGIS Server WMS/WMTS published as TAK map sources, PostGIS as the system of record for tracks, and Node-RED or Python automation between them.

QGIS
QGIS Server
GeoServer
PostGIS
Node-RED
Python

What we deliver

QGIS project → TAK overlay export and network links
GeoServer / QGIS Server sources packaged as tile.xml
PostGIS schema for CoT tracks, events and missions
Automation flows (Node-RED / Python) with monitoring

Ask about QGIS &

02Reference architecture

How TAK and your GIS fit together

The pattern behind every TAK engagement: clients talk CoT to a TAK Server; bridges translate between CoT and your GIS platform; basemaps and packages are produced from the same authoritative data. The highlighted layer is where most of our integration work lives.

Reference architectureTAK Integration layer

01 · Field clients
- ATAK (Android)
- iTAK (iOS)
- WinTAK (Windows)
- WebTAK / CloudTAK
02 · TAK Server
- CoT routing (TLS)
- Certificates & groups
- Missions / Data Sync
- Federation
- Video aliases
03 · Bridges & feeds
- pytak / takproto adapters
- ArcGIS Velocity TAK feed
- FeatureServer → CoT
- CoT → feature service
- Sensor & video metadata
04 · GIS platform
- ArcGIS Enterprise / Online
- QGIS Server / GeoServer
- PostGIS track store
- Dashboards / COP
05 · Data & basemaps
- MBTiles / GeoPackage
- KML / GeoJSON packages
- ADS-B · AIS · GPS
- Imagery & elevation

ArcGIS products used in this practice

ArcGIS Velocity
ArcGIS Enterprise
ArcGIS Online
ArcGIS Dashboards

Esri, ArcGIS and the ArcGIS product marks are trademarks of Esri, used here to identify the products we work with.

03Why LiveBird

What you get that a generic vendor won't give you

One picture, both directions

Field positions land in your GIS and GIS layers reach the field — no manual exports, no second map that is always slightly out of date.

Runs where the network doesn't

Offline packages, edge servers and store-and-forward adapters designed for denied, degraded and intermittent connectivity.

Built to be operated

PKI, groups, federation and upgrades documented as runbooks your team can execute — not tribal knowledge that leaves with the contractor.

04FAQ

Common questions

TAK Server, CoT feeds, ATAK/WinTAK plugins, ArcGIS–TAK bridges, offline packages.

Official TAK Server from TAK.gov for government and defence programmes that need the full feature set and support path. OpenTAKServer, FreeTAKServer or CloudTAK are solid open-source options for smaller teams, training environments and civilian agencies; they differ in federation, Data Sync and management features, and we help you choose.

Related practices

Custom GIS Development

GIS applications written for your workflow, not configured from a template

ArcGIS Development

Esri specialists across the whole ArcGIS platform

Ready GIS Solution Products

Field-proven products you can deploy in weeks, not quarters

Start a project

Have a project in mind? Let's build it.

Share your requirement and get an obligation-free consultation, a technology recommendation, and a quote within 48 business hours.

Get an Instant Quote connect@livebirdtechnologies.com