(Image Source: Cult of Mac)

BY GARY COTTON

Detailed 3D navigation is good enough for the military so--why not your iphone? Slashgear reports Apple’s latest purchase of mapping company C3 Technologies could give you a more life-like way of getting around.

“C3 is in the business of creating photo-realistic models of our modern city environments using declassified missile targeting methods previously part of aerospace and defense company Saab AB. Thusly this situation is about to get hardcore.”

So, what might come with these new hardcore maps?The maps show detailed landscapes, trees, even full color buildings and monuments. This is Apple’s third purchase of a mapping company in the last few years. That has a writer for Business Insider thinking Apple’s trying to send a message to a certain rival.

“Since the beginning, Apple has relied on Google to provide the back end for iOS maps. Now with C3, it's possible for Apple to handle mapping on its own without depending on its rival.”

A writer for TechCrunch agrees saying that with the rivalry between Apple and Google heating up, a breakup is probably in the cards.

“Having such a primary function of the iPhone essentially outsourced must have started to really rankle Apple...Google actually fired the first shot: the latest version of Google Maps and Google Navigation...was unapologetically offered only on Android devices.”

It’s still too early to tell when you’ll start to see these detailed maps on your iPhone, but a writer for 9 to 5 Mac says it might be sooner than you’d expect.

“Typically, when Apple purchases a company...they have a clear goal in mind, and tend to take the best elements of their purchase and make it into their own creation. The latest example of this would be Apple’s purchase of Siri: Apple scooped up the company...and pushed out the iPhone 4S with Siri voice technology a little over a year later.”

C3’s estimated purchase price is around $240 million.