U.S Navy Parts Tracking to be done with Blockchain Technology developed by ITACOM

•        The U.S Navy is exploring blockchain technology for tracking aircraft parts over their lifetime

•        The current system is done manually

•         United States Navy to team up with ITACOM

Blockchain technology might have just found yet another potential application in the world besides its famous cryptocurrencies: Naval parts tracking.

This was revealed through a press release sent out by The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) which stated that it is exploring the use of Blockchain technology to better track the various parts used in Naval aircraft throughout their lifecycle.

“Knowing the origin and history of flight-critical aircraft parts is a resource-consuming process that drives up the cost to operate military aircraft,” NAVAIR explains.

Tracking Parts

The current system is not inefficient per se but can be improved upon. Currently, parts are recorded on paper after they are sold and then their status is updated on paper as well manually.

With time, NAVAIR is hoping to move the database to a blockchain-based platform. Given that blockchain technology is renowned for its flawless recording practices and tamper-proof storage, this could benefit the Navy a lot.

The project is still in its early stages but NAVAIR’s Fleet Readiness Center Southwest has partnered with Indiana Technology and Manufacturing Companies (ITAMCO) to make use of a blockchain platform developed by DARPA called SIMBA chain.

What NAVAIR Needs

Given the immense scale of the U.S Navy and the amount of data that will be potentially recorded, NAVAIR is looking for a protocol that can not only store but recall huge amounts of data when they are needed.

They also hope to create a system that can serve the needs of the Navy specifically and not necessarily a ‘general use’ blockchain platform.

This platform, according to NAVAIR, will need less power than the type of platforms used for cryptocurrency but will also need to be a highly secured one due to the fact that it will be a distributed supply chain with a very large number of transactions.

“By bringing the experts together early in the development of possible architectures, the navy command says, “the authorities will better understand the risk and reward of a connected distributed system.”

The team behind this fully believes that blockchain technology is capable of handling the Navy’s needs due to is traceability and storage capabilities.