HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin has introduced a wireless, automatic identity technology for tracking assets such as munitions in challenging environments.
The technology, called RuBee, was developed with Visible Assets Inc. and uses magnetic fields for tracking instead of radio frequency technology.
"Historically, tracking sensitive items has been a very manual process demanding hundreds of man hours in sometimes volatile explosive environments," said Dr. Robert Smith, vice president of C4ISR for Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Solutions. "This unique system not only tags and tracks sensitive items and fused munitions at zero separation, it also incorporates advanced sensors that can be used for predictive maintenance of weapons."
Lockheed said that because RuBee tags operate on electromagnetic wavelengths, solutions based on this technology offer extremely high levels of security -- data passed through these channels operate more like secure peer-to-peer networks, and are less prone to outsider attempts to access information.
Independent tests conducted by the U.S. Navy concluded that the RuBee system tags, readers and base stations pose no risk to munitions and have no negative effects on military fuel.
