US Army to Incorporate Li-Fi Technology

LiFi technology company pureLiFi entered into a $4.2 million agreement with the U.S. Army Europe and Africa to supply its secure optical wireless communication system Kitefin. The system uses LiFi, an alternative to radio technologies such as WiFi, for secure data transmission without radio frequencies.

The deal is reported to be the largest scale deployment of LiFi technology to date.

The U.S. Army will begin deploying Kitefin LiFi devices in 2021. Courtesy of pureLiFi.

The technology provides certain advantages over conventional technologies such as cellular WiFi and Bluetooth, particularly in terms of security and reliability. The deployment, which consists of thousands of certified office and field deployable units, uses light rather than radio frequencies, which run the risk of detection by outside sources. Kitefin’s optical technologies eliminate that risk as it cannot be detected outside of its defined cone of coverage.

pureLiFi's Kitefin optical wireless communication system. Courtesy of pureLiFi.

An initial pilot of pureLiFi’s technology with U.S. Army Europe and Africa took place in 2019. The same year, the company launched gigabit components designed for integration into mobile phones and consumer electronics.

pureLiFi will begin shipping the first units of Kitefin in spring of 2021.