Application of RFID in the military field

The innovation and application of information technology are driving a new military revolution. Only by taking the initiative in information acquisition, transmission and processing can we meet the requirements of real-time, accuracy and comprehensiveness of military information in various occasions. Developing a military Internet of Things based on RFID technology will promote the information construction of the troops, further improve command efficiency, enhance logistics support capabilities, and improve the troops' ability to perform tasks.

1. RFID technology and the Internet of Things

1.1 RFID technology

RFID is the abbreviation of "Radio Frequency Identification". It is a non-contact automatic identification technology that automatically identifies the target object and obtains relevant data information through radio frequency signals. Identification does not require human intervention. RFID systems generally consist of three parts: electronic tags, readers and data management systems. RFID has the characteristics of non-contact identification, large data storage, not easy to wear, high-speed identification, and anti-collision, and is widely used in production and life. In recent years, with the continuous development of integrated circuits and communication networks, RFID technology has made new progress in chips, readers, antennas, label packaging and other links, and has further developed in the direction of miniaturization, practicality, low cost, and scale. At present, RFID has been widely used in my country, such as the second-generation ID card, Olympic tickets, electronic payment, book and file management, access control system and other fields.

1.2 Internet of Things

The Internet of Things refers to a huge network formed by combining various information sensing devices, such as radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, infrared sensors, global positioning systems, laser scanners and other devices with the Internet. Its purpose is to connect all items to the network, realize intelligent identification and management, and achieve information interconnection and real-time sharing. The Internet of Things has three main characteristics: comprehensive perception, reliable transmission, and intelligent processing.

1.3 Military Internet of Things

The military Internet of Things refers to a huge network formed by combining all military supplies (including various equipment) with the military intranet through various information sensing devices, such as radio frequency equipment, barcode equipment, sensors, global positioning systems, geographic information systems, electronic data exchange, laser scanning and other devices. Its purpose is to connect all military supplies to the network and realize the connection of military supplies to the ubiquitous network at any time and any place.

2 、Military Application of RFID Technology

The application of RFID technology originated from the military, and the military field is the leader in RFID application. With the continuous development and maturity of RFID technology, its application field has gradually expanded and has been widely used.

2.1 Application of RFID Technology in Foreign Military

The earliest application of RFID originated from the identification of fighter planes in World War II. The United States is a representative foreign military application of RFID. In recent years, in the large-scale military operations of the United States, RFID technology has been widely used for marking and identifying various materials and personnel.

In the Gulf War in the early 1990s, due to the problems of unknown whereabouts of materials and excessive repeated supplies in the links of requesting, transporting, and distributing materials, a huge waste of resources was caused. During the Iraq War in 2003, the US Army learned the lessons of logistics support in the Gulf War and attached importance to the development of "full-capital visualization technology, making full use of the visualization logistics network built by RFID technology, making the US military's logistics supply capabilities unprecedentedly powerful, and can easily grasp the real-time information of all logistics supplies, realize the full tracking of logistics materials, and also enable the US military to achieve the transformation from "reserve logistics" to "distribution logistics".

Due to the advantages of RFID and the continuous maturity of technology, many countries have also adopted RFID in military logistics, providing a powerful means for accurate and real-time tracking of military logistics support processes and improving material visualization.

2.2 Application of RFID technology in domestic military

At present, two-dimensional barcode technology is widely used in the field of material support of our army. The main feature of the two-dimensional barcode is that it can represent information in both horizontal and vertical directions. It has the advantages of large amount of information, high reliability, strong confidentiality and anti-counterfeiting, and can represent images, Chinese characters and other text information.

RFID technology is considered as a wireless version of barcodes. Compared with barcodes, it has the advantages of non-contact identification without human intervention, large data storage and the ability to modify card information, strong anti-pollution and durability, anti-collision, i.e. the card reader can identify multiple cards, high-speed identification, and flexible electronic tag shapes and product attachment methods. These features make it an efficient technical means for the visualization and real-time tracking of military supplies, providing effective support for daily management in peacetime and logistical support in wartime.

RFID has been used in military camp management for access control management, which is a relatively mature application. In addition to verifying personal identity, it can also verify the legality of vehicles. Since electronic tags eliminate manual intervention in the tracking process, they can greatly improve work efficiency while saving a lot of manpower.

Military vehicle license plates are a typical application of RFID technology. The military vehicle license plates replaced in December 2004 are embedded with contactless anti-counterfeiting radio frequency cards, and the basic parameter information of the vehicle is written inside. The authenticity can be identified through the identifier, and the use and management of the military vehicle license plates can be checked.

RFID technology has also been gradually applied to the field of warehousing management of our army, such as the radio frequency identification system for transported materials and automated stereoscopic warehouses, which provides a convenient and flexible solution for automatically obtaining the visible information of assets in storage, transportation, and use, and greatly reforms the traditional logistics tracking method.

RFID technology is applied to the automatic identification management of military firearms, providing a digital platform for the automatic identification and intelligent management of the entry and exit of military firearms, use and maintenance.

3. Main problems to be solved in the application of RFID technology in our army

RFID technology and products have been applied in many practical fields in the civilian field, and the technology has matured. Due to the special requirements of the military, there are still many key technologies that need to be further developed. Combined with the practice of civilian products, RFID technology needs to focus on solving the following problems in military applications:

3.1 Coexistence of electronic tags and barcodes, and gradually realize the transition from barcodes to RFID

At present, barcode technology has been widely used in our army, but compared with RFID technology, it has the disadvantages of small amount of information, easy damage, and short identification distance. At present, RFID is mostly used for outer packaging boxes and containers of equipment, such as warehouse pallets, etc. The electronic tags store information such as item specifications and codes, while barcodes are used for specific internal item components. Due to cost, frequency band, confidentiality and other reasons, it is not yet mature to completely replace barcodes with RFID. For a long time, the two will coexist at the same time, which requires full use of the advantages of the two, complementary use, and gradual transition to RFID.

3.2 Focus on strengthening the unification of standards from the perspective of military-civilian logistics integration

At present, industry standards and related product standards are not unified. RFID electronic products using different standards are incompatible, so materials between RFID systems of different standards cannot be identified, which hinders the formation of product interoperability and data processing platforms. Standardization is the premise for truly realizing comprehensive informatization and the key to establishing a military-civilian logistics integration system. We should accelerate the establishment of our military RFID technology standard system, formulate standards and specifications such as information classification, indicator system, and various information coding codes, and integrate them with existing information systems to achieve information sharing.

3.3 Select appropriate electronic tags according to the use environment

Select appropriate electronic tags according to the use environment. Due to the particularity of the military field, under complex environmental conditions, the frequency of the electronic tag cannot conflict with the frequency of other communication equipment, otherwise interference will occur. Therefore, it is required to have strong anti-interference ability and meet the needs of various environments. According to different working frequencies, RFID systems are generally divided into two categories: medium and low frequency bands and high frequency bands. High-frequency long-distance electronic tags are mainly used in the fields of automatic vehicle identification, bulk cargo tracking and monitoring, and are suitable for managing logistics and supply chain links. Low frequency is mainly used in access control management, animal tracking and management, production line automation and process control. Due to the particularity of the military field, it is required to have strong anti-interference ability and meet the needs of various environments.

3.4 Strengthen confidentiality awareness and strengthen RFID security management

In military applications, security is an important issue that needs to be considered. The threats faced by RFID are mainly the leakage of equipment or component information in the electronic tag and the use of the unique identifier of the tag for tracking. If these problems exist, unimaginable consequences will occur. There are currently two types of RFID security technologies: one is to prevent the communication between the electronic tag and the reader by physical methods, and the other is to increase the tag security mechanism by logical methods. RFID security protection and cost are mutually constrained. The low-cost RFID circuit structure makes it difficult to implement existing encryption technology, and it can only be implemented with relatively expensive ones. Security is a challenging issue for military applications. It is necessary to design a safe and effective security technology solution based on the limited resources of the electronic tag, and only the best solution is to balance security and cost.