Automating the Armory: New Weapons Tracker Successfully Tested by U.S. Naval Forces

DENVER — A new, advanced weapons maintenance system developed by Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] and Visible Assets, Inc. that manages, diagnoses and tracks sensitive assets such as munitions could potentially save the U.S. Navy millions by automating the time-consuming process of weapons tracking.

The system, built around the RuBee® Weapon Shot Counter, addresses the challenge of tracking sensitive munitions remotely. Unlike traditional RFID tags — which cannot always be read through metals and liquids and are subject to eavesdropping — RuBee operates on the magnetic spectrum rather than the RF spectrum and is not subject to those deficiencies.

During the multi-phased pilot program with U.S. Navy expeditionary forces, RuBee tags were embedded in selected Naval assets to track weapon performance. Early findings showed the system could potentially save a single armory millions of dollars in labor charges annually through automation.