NEW YORK, 22 March 2007. RFID is being used, tested, and deployed in scores of supply-chain and asset-management applications to solve real-world business problems within aerospace and defense markets. Announcements from the U.S. and allied militaries, Boeing, Airbus, and NASA bear witness to the technology's growing popularity. These applications are explored in a major study from ABI Research, "The RFID Aerospace and Defense Market."

"RFID has the strategic potential to help aerospace and defense companies improve supply chain visibility as well as asset management and optimization," says the firm's RFID research director, Michael Liard. "However it must be noted that RFID is not a stand-alone panacea for all business problems. ABI Research believes that the integration of bar code, passive and active RFID, GPS, Wi-Fi, cellular, and sensors is increasingly required to provide a holistic view of the sophisticated and dynamic A&D vertical market."

The report sums up the current state of RFID in the A&D industry as follows:

Supply-chain mandate-compliance remains a leading industry driver as A&D supply-chain partners work to satisfy the US Department of Defense's RFID requirements.

Boeing, Airbus, and other industry influencers are actively pursuing asset-based RFID applications, including solutions for returnable and reusable asset management and spare parts tracking and authentication.

Standards focus has predominantly been on low-cost passive UHF solutions and off-network RFID data; however, ISO 18000-7 is also garnering increased attention as a technology standard for active-based RFID solutions.

The initial focus for aerospace and defense RFID will be on enhanced visibility but, in the future, it will be used in conjunction with sensor technology to authenticate and monitor objects, assets, or items in real time. Semi-active/semi-passive solutions are expected to play a key role here.

ABI Research's RFID aerospace and defense market study provides an assessment of the opportunities and business benefits of RFID in aerospace and defense markets, identifying the key business operation, technology, and industry issues challenging the industry and assessing how RFID is seen as an enabling technology.