U.S. AIR FORCE USES RADIO FREQUENCY TECHNOLOGY TO TRACK AIR CARGO
The U.S. Air Force has started tagging cargo bound to the warfront in Iraq with radio frequency identification (RFID) systems to help improve tracking and delivery schedules.
U.S. Transportation Command said it ordered the Air Force's Air Mobility Command to use the automated technology to provide content level detail for pallets containing medical supplies, parts, food and other goods.
The tags will be applied to shipments from five air bases in the United States as well as Ramstein Air Base in Germany and Yokota Air Base in Japan.
The pallet manifest is scanned into a warehouse management system and then 'burned' on a tag that is tied to the net covering the pallet. The data is then passed onto a Defense Logistics Agency database that can be accessed by Defense Department information systems anywhere in the world. Special readers at the off-loading site pick up the radio wave and match the unique code assigned to each pallet with the contents in the system so that logistics managers know the location of their supplies.
USTRANSCOM spokesman Scott Rose said the RFID transponders and readers are being provided by Savi Technology, which also provides tracking for ocean containers managed by the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command. Savi is also involved with several government pilot projects testing RFID technology for commercial container security purposes. The company's technology also is used by many large companies to help manage inventory in warehouses.