Unisys Corporation has won part of a four-company contract with the U.S. Army. The deal will see Unisys and three other companies will provide RFID technology to all U.S. federal government agencies as well as to NATO and other coalition partner countries.

The deal, named RFID III, could reach a value of US$428 million if all options are exercised.

Unisys has been providing RFID solutions as a prime contractor to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) since 1994, following Operation Desert Storm. The partnership has resulted in the creation of one of the largest active RFID networks in the world, the Army’s RFID In-Transit Visibility (RF-ITV) system. RF-ITV provides the military with instant access to information about equipment and supplies, enhancing readiness and safety.

Currently, RFID tags are attached to approximately 125,000 shipments of military supplies each week. As shipments pass through field locations, fixed and handheld readers send and receive data to and from the tags. This data is made available to the military for greater visibility into the location and status of shipments.

“With RFID III, Unisys plans to assist the Department of Defense in moving from proprietary technology towards the international standard ISO 18000-7 for a more open RFID infrastructure,” said Jim Geiger, managing partner, Department of Defense, Unisys Federal Systems. “Unisys is very proud that DoD has selected Unisys as a partner in implementing these standards. The result will be a less expensive and more flexible and reliable path forward.”

Under the contract, Unisys will deploy RFID tags and readers of partner companies Hi-G-Tek and Identec Solutions.