LogTrax: US Engineered IoT for Persistent Logistics Innovation

US Air Force (USAF) assets ensure Air Supremacy around the globe in pursuit of our National Security Objectives. These objectives are achieved through 24/7/365 air mobility actions that include: troop and cargo transport, air refueling, aeromedical evacuations, humanitarian aid, and special operations support. Logistics operations are both complex and vital to our nation’s defense. Developing and integrating novel technologies are crucial in supporting the USAF in meeting the emerging challenges and near-peer threats. These capabilities must be sought and employed in a highly efficient and cost-effective manner while also increasing agility and responsiveness of logistics forces. Integration IoT devices into flight line operations has significant potential to address Lt. Gen Warren Berry, USAF Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection strategic imperatives. However, trends in the IoT market show that U.S. adversaries are outpacing our research and development efforts of embedded semiconductors and microprocessors at a lower cost. The market is flooded with IoT devices, and for most of these devices, we can trace the internal component supply chain back to our adversaries. In one recent study, researchers found that a popular Chinese-made MV720 GPS tracker, used in 169 countries and for national security use cases, had severe software vulnerabilities. These concerns severely limit how the DoD can integrate commercial IoT into operations, forcing operations to rely on manual processes to track and manage movements resulting in a negative impact to mission readiness. Reliance on foreign-developed IoT technologies will continue to infuse cybersecurity and physical risk to our national security and limit our overall readiness posture. The U.S. Government recognizes the need for U.S. manufactured IoT devices in the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) subsidy package for domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research. Technergetics, a U.S. based small business focused on DoD innovation, is performing research and development of a low-cost beyond Line of Sight (BLoS) tracking specification for cargo, focusing on utilizing long range LoRa (“Long Rang”) technology that is designed and built in the US for DoD use. LoRa is a long range, low power, wireless radio frequency technology that is ideally suited for Internet of Things (IoT) devices that do not require low-latency, high bandwidth connectivity. The scope of this effort is to create a low cost, digital tracking platform similar to Apple Air Tags, which complies with a USAF/DoD owned specification (LASSI) and integrates with innovative software being developed for USAF global mobility. This platform will differ from other commercial platforms in its ability to be configured to interoperate with these systems, outdoor/indoor tracking features, complying to a government owned specification, and the ability for the DoD to procure at low cost.