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The U.S. Navy has started a blockchain project. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the supplier of components for aircraft used by the Navy, tracks components throughout their life cycle. In this way, it should be possible to easily identify when they need to be replaced.

NAVAIR announces this in an extensive message. In order to put the blockchain pilot into use, it works together with Indiana Technology and Manufacturing. That company has already developed Samba Chain, which is used by the U.S. military to secure and track messages within the blockchain. Simba Chain must now be deployed within the Navy.

Track aircraft parts

However, the navy’s blockchain will be used to map information about aircraft components. In addition, the supply chain must be monitored. This combination makes it possible to prevent parts from being tampered with.

It also makes it possible to identify the origin and use of aircraft components. Ensuring that they are replaced on time is a crucial part of the maintenance cycle of aircraft and systems. At the same time, however, it is an expensive and time-consuming process that significantly increases the costs of using military aircraft. At the moment the parts are still being tracked with papers called Scheduled Removal Component Cards. The data on these papers are then manually entered into a database.

Automating the process

The hope of NAVAIR is to use Simba Chain to automate the process. By relying on a blockchain, the system would be extra secure and access to it would also be easy to manage. At the same time, it is also thought that the costs of the system can be significantly reduced by mapping out every action within the supply chain via blockchain.

When an asset is overhauled, temporarily stored or repaired, installed or deleted, it is automatically placed in the blockchain. This makes it easier to check whether a part is in need of replacement and to check whether the information has not been changed by unauthorised persons.

This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.