Cubic to expand tracking technology network

Cubic has announced that it will play an important role in the drawdown of US military equipment from Afghanistan following the award of new orders announced on 3 January. The three orders, worth a combined $4.8 million, will see the company’s asset management and visibility solutions provider, Cubic Global Tracking Solutions, expand its wireless mesh asset tracking technology to two US bases in Afghanistan.

The US Army and GSA Schedule orders will see Cubic deploy thousands of Mesh Asset Tags (MATs) and its web-based Device Management Center (DMC) asset visibility system to bases near Kandahar and Bagram, where the technology will be used to track and process equipment being redeployed or returned home in the drawdown of troops from Afghanistan.

Cubic is delivering the mesh network technology to the US Army Logistics Innovation Agency and Army Sustainment Command as a subcontractor to ARINC on the Next Generation Wireless Communications (NGWC) contract, and the Army Mobility Asset Tracking System (AMATS) programme. Currently being used for yard management of vehicles at three bases in Kuwait, the solution consists of small, battery operated mesh tags with built-in GPS receivers that are attached to vehicles and linked wirelessly with one another to form a secure data communications network. Cubic’s asset visibility system enables logistics personnel to determine the precise location of any military vehicle by searching the DMC database.

Jim Kilfeather, vice president of Cubic Global Tracking Solutions, said: ‘Our system improves visibility in the army supply chain to allow more efficient and secure processing of valuable equipment for retrograde movement outside of Afghanistan, and will help improve compliance with Army Wash Rack requirements for cleaning, tracking and monitoring of vehicles. The system reduces the amount of time spent looking for vehicles, and enables more efficient utilisation of personnel, equipment, wash racks, and inspection bays. To the army, this means a significant reduction in total turn time, as well as a better managed and predictable logistics flow to ports like Karachi.

‘As we draw down our forces in Afghanistan, there will be large movements of units and materials through the supply chains which are not always under US control. Cubic provides a range of products to help secure and monitor containers and vehicles, and we are working with the US military and their carriers to help enhance security during all of these movements.’