RFID Tracks Military SuppliesOctober 29, 2009

 

RHID

The U.S. military's operations depend on the timely and efficient movement of supplies and equipment around the world, whether the country is at war or conducting peacetime operations. Radio frequency identification tags (RFID) -- basically wireless bar codes -- are quickly becoming the standard to track and manage the military supply chain.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the pressure they place on the supply chain, have put the spotlight on RFID technology, according to an article in the Defense Industry Daily. The Pentagon just placed a $6.6 million order with Lockheed Martin's Savi unit for RFID tags to track and manage supplies on their way to the battlefield. Savi's RIFD technology can be embedded into supplies or equipment during production or attached externally.

The Pentagon has been faulted for losing track of a sizable number of weapons earmarked for Afghan forces, with reports of armories locked up with nothing more than padlocks in remote Afghanistan areas. RIFD tags could allow the tracking and monitoring of such weapons. The tags work in tandem with a reading device, which receives information from the remote marker. The article provides a breakdown of the types of RIFD tags used in military applications as follows:

  • A passive RFID tag responds to signals from a reader that can be as far as 10-20 feet away. This device costs about 20 cents per tag.
  • A semi-passive tag is battery operated and can monitor supplies and equipment within a container, such as the climate within the container or whether the container had been opened on route. This RFID does not transmit a live signal.
  • An active tag has a power source and a transmitter, sending out a constant signal as far as 750 feet. This costs $20 or more per tag.

The article also identifies some problems with RFID technology, as follows:

  • Security issues are a major concern, especially because hostile forces could use a stolen reader to track U.S. supplies and deduce pending military action.
  • Accuracy is also a concern. The Pentagon recently realized , for example, that suppliers had been using the incorrect passive tags when sending out U.S. military shipments.
  • Implementing RFID across the services has also been problematic because the Department of Defense is still trying to demonstrate the return on investment on this technology.

(U.S Navy photo by Mr. James P. Cencer (RELEASED))