NATO upgrades and expands RFID network

The new technology enables NATO's members to share information on consignments

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has awarded a contract to upgrade and support an RFID (radio frequency identification) network launched last year to track multinational defense consignments between Europe and Afghanistan.

The contract with Savi Technology is for additional active, data-rich RFID tags and readers as well as network-wide software enhancements to the International Security Assistance Force supply chain, Savi says. Financial terms were not released.

The deal includes installation of Savi's SmartChain Consignment Management Solution (CMS), which will allow NATO to improve its supply chain management and visibility and enable member nations to share information on national and joint multinational consignments, according to Savi.

The CMS 1.0 system will track and manage consignments tagged with all types of identification and data-collection devices for allied military organisations, including management alerts and support for "nested visibility" of assets and their contents as well as environmental conditions in transit, Savi says. ADIC devices can range from sensors and bar codes to passive and active RFID tags, as well as GPS devices.

Savi also helped to build and maintain the US Department of Defence's RFID network, which the company claims is the world's largest RFID cargo tracking system.