Representatives from Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) and Lockheed Martin Australia farewelled the first active Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tag from Australia into the Middle East Area of Operations on 10 April.

The ‘Track and Trace’ network for Defence logistics systems will revolutionise Defence’s in-transit visibility of stores and equipment transported throughout the Defence supply chain.

Defence is rolling out a leading edge ‘Track and Trace’ system to enable automated tracking of stores and equipment through the supply chain anywhere in the world.

DMO Director General Materiel Information Systems, Brigadier David McGahey said the ‘Track and Trace’ will provide near real time automated tracking from the time the stores are consigned in the warehouse until they are delivered to the area of operations.

The Deployment of RFID Technology through ‘Track and Trace’ is a foundational element of the Joint Project (JP) 2077 program that will culminate in the delivery of a world-first Military Integrated Logistic Information System (MILIS) to the Australian Defence Organisation over the next three years.

‘JP2077 2C represents an important step towards the delivery of a purpose-built integrated in-transit visibility system,’ Brigadier McGahey said.

The ‘Track and Trace’ capability will provide a number of significant benefits to Defence including reduced in-theatre handling requirements, automated tracking updates at multiple points along the supply chain, more accurate measurement of transit time, and the ability to rapidly locate consignments in transit areas.

‘Track and Trace’ uses active, battery-powered RFID tags on pallets and containers to improve the in transit visibility of consignments, particularly in support of in-theatre operations.

Through a memorandum of understanding signed with major defence partners such as the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, Australia’s ‘Track and Trace’ capability can be interoperable with other RFID-based in-transit visibility networks.