ODIN Technologies has introduced its SMART Container solution, a passive radio frequency identification (pRFID)-based system, which is mounted inside shipping containers to provide real-time asset visibility down to the item level. The system is currently being pilot tested by the Navy Sea Bees for tracking tools in theater. The U.S. military currently uses active RFID systems, mostly supplied by Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] Savi Technologies business unit, but those devices generally just track a container, not each item inside, and typically communicate to logisticians and others in the supply chain when the shipment passes through a gate or checkpoint equipped with reader infrastructure. ODIN’s SMART Container consists of a control unit and two passive reader wings, all of which is mounted inside a container, to read passive RFID tags that are required on Defense Department items and goods being shipped. The system can transmit data via satellite, cellular and even active RFID to permit In Transit Visibility. Frequently military shipments are partially switched out but the manifests aren’t always updated, but with SMART Container users can locate and track their supplies and shipments down to the tagged item, including individual weapons, with a click of a mouse, Patrick Sweeney, founder of ODIN, tells TR2. He also says that the system will automatically alert to a container door breach. Given the DoD mandate on the use passive RFID asset tags, ODIN is targeting the military market initially. The company already has several key DoD contracts, including as a subcontractor to Unisys [UIS] on the recent Army RFID III award and as prime contractor for the Army’s pRFID contract. The company is also helping Unisys implement the Department of Homeland Security’s Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative using its RFID expertise. The SMART container solutions can be installed and configured in one minute. The unit price of the system in volume is $10,000, Sweeney says.