US Navy to Spend $9.50mln on Blockchain to Ensure Messaging Secrecy

A California-headquartered research team of the US Navy, the Naval Air Warfare Center, has funded blockchain focused software company Simba Chain roughly $10 million to develop a safe messaging platform.

Simba Chain CEO Joel Neidig revealed that the platform will go live this year. Neidig said “The platform will be up this year, with ongoing updates over the next 4 years.”

Of late, the Naval research team had directed Simba Chain to deploy a secure avenue for interaction and dealings, developed on the blockchain for the Department of Defense, or DoD.

The Naval Air Warfare Center has awarded Simba Chain $9.50 million under the Small Business Innovation Research program (SBIR), Phase III contract valid for five years.

About upcoming stages after the prevailing ones, Neidig said “This is the first of many contracts. We will be announcing the next contracts later in the spring.”

This is not the first time Simba Chain is undertaking the US military work. Back in August 2019, the startup built a blockchain-powered logistics solution for the US Air Force.

Under the previous SBIR agreement, Simba Chain built the prevailing DoD platform, developing and trialing the blockchain powered communication system. The third stage focuses on the complete installation of the platform.

The communication platform, developed using Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, can be used both in land and water related operations, facilitating safe data transfer.
Neidig pointed out that it is a win-win situation for everyone involved in the deal:

“This is a win not just for SIMBA and our partners, but also for the DoD, which has pursued with single-minded focus, a solution to conduct sensitive, mission-critical operations in a manner that is immutable and non-refutable. We plan to deliver a ‘bulletproof’ platform that meets all objectives.”

The US military is also involved in many more blockchain-based projects.