In recent years, we’ve heard many governments planning to embark on projects using blockchain technology. In fact, the only other military that I know which is using blockchain is the South Korean military. So when the news broke that the U.S. Air Force with a joint partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense were going blockchain, it really got me surprised.

The US department of Defense awarded this project to a company called Fluree.

Fluree specializes in permissioned blockchain systems. It is tasked with creating a network that can serve multiple roles for the Air Force as well as provide capabilities for other branches of the military and America’s global partners.

Brian Platz, Fluree co-CEO stated:

Fluree is uniquely suited to provide a distributed communication network that supports the interoperability and scalability requirements of both legacy and evolving government systems.

Brian Platz and Flip Filipowski founded Fluree in 2016. It is based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and has remained a relatively obscure player in the blockchain space. It released its blockchain database in August, 2018, and last June it received USD $4.7 million in seed funding.

Its partnership with the Air Force is its most notable to-date, and is an impressive accomplishment given the competition. There is little doubt that the company plans to use this achievement as a catalyst for greater growth. Fluree is also known to be working with consulting firm Deloitte, which could open the door for many more partnerships.

The fact that the Air Force has chosen a permissioned platform may draw the ire of blockchain purists, yet is not surprising given its unique security needs and nascent state of distributed ledger technology.

Blockchain Usage In Military Will Grow

Military strategists have long supported blockchain adoption. Distributed ledger technology offers many advantages over legacy centralized systems that are critical to success in modern warfare.

Modern militaries are among the largest organizations on Earth, with large, complex supply chains and logistics networks. Just as in retail, blockchain technology can make these systems vastly more efficient. Also, blockchain can provide a much greater level of security and transparency for these processes.

Blockchain systems can also enable secure communication, protection against cyber attacks, and better command and control operations. Of particular interest to the U.S. military is the integration of blockchain technology into NATO operations. It has investigated this potential since as early as 2016.

Given recent moves, it is likely that over the course of the next few years blockchain architecture will thus become standard components of most military operations.

What’s your opinion about the US Air Force using Blockchain technology? Share your thoughts below.

Amarjit S.
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