Marine commandos aim to automate armories with computer vision, other tech
Marine Forces Special Operations Command is on the hunt for high-tech capabilities that could streamline its armory operations.
MARSOC is teaming up with the SOFWERX innovation hub on a new “automated armory” initiative to bring together members of industry and other solution providers to help the command pursue commercially available technologies and other tools that could support digitization.
The new multi-phase effort is reflective of the Defense Department’s push to adopt AI systems to reduce drudge work for personnel.
“MARSOC armories maintain thousands of serialized weapons, optics, lasers, night vision devices, communications equipment, and other controlled assets that routinely transfer custody among operators, maintenance activities, and storage locations. Current accountability processes rely heavily on manual inventories, handwritten forms, repetitive data entry, and multiple independent records. These processes are labor intensive, susceptible to human error, and consume significant man-hours while increasing accountability risk,” officials wrote in a special notice issued Monday.
The command wants to collaborate with innovative companies to “design a secure, zero-signature automated armory that relies exclusively on optical recognition and computer vision,” according to the notice, and develop a “passive, image-based inventory system where weapons, gear, and serial numbers are automatically tracked, verified, and logged simply by taking a digital photo or scanning an optical image as items enter or exit the facility.”
The use of RFID, active Bluetooth, or “radiating” digital transmitters will be prohibited to maintain operational security, officials noted.
“This approach will eliminate slow, legacy paper-based workflows and human-error bottlenecks while guaranteeing absolute property accountability without exposing our facilities to electronic detection,” they wrote.
MARSOC and SOFWERX are scheduled to host a collaboration event in Tampa, Florida, in September where solution providers will meet with military personnel to discuss their needs.
Vendors who make it past a downselect later this year will be invited to an assessment event slated for December where their tech will be evaluated. That event could potentially lead to other transaction agreements, FAR-based contracts or other deals with industry, according to the notice.
The deadline for vendors to request to attend the collaboration event in September — which is only open to American industry and U.S. persons — is Aug. 16.
