By Paul R Salmon FCILT, FSCM
In military logistics, speed, accuracy, and adaptability can mean the difference between mission success and operational compromise. As the UK Defence supply chain adapts to a new era of contested logistics—where adversaries target supply routes and decision-making timelines are compressed—the tools we use to manage and move materiel must evolve.
Volumetric scanning technology, already commonplace in commercial freight, offers Defence a way to automate, standardise, and accelerate a critical but often overlooked process: measuring and recording the size of everything we move. In a deployed environment or during surge preparation at home, “measure no more” is more than a slogan — it is a capability enabler.
1. The Defence Measurement Challenge
The UK Defence supply chain is tasked with moving a vast array of items — from small-arms ammunition boxes and ration packs to bridge sections, radar arrays, and armoured vehicle spares. Many are irregularly shaped, heavy, and stored in varied packaging.
In an operational context:
Every cubic metre in an aircraft hold, ship’s cargo deck, or convoy truck is precious. Errors in dimension data can lead to wasted space, incorrect load planning, or failure to meet embarkation timelines. Manual measurement under time pressure increases the risk of mistakes.
The consequences are not limited to inefficiency — in a high-readiness or contested logistics environment, inaccurate data can delay deployment, disrupt force packages, and compromise mission timelines.
2. What Volumetric Scanners Bring to the Battlespace
Volumetric scanners use laser, infrared, LiDAR, or camera-based 3D imaging to calculate the exact dimensions and volume of an object within seconds. When combined with weight data, they can determine dimensional weight (DIM), essential for optimising lift and load utilisation.
For UK Defence, these systems can:
Standardise data for NATO interoperability. Accelerate movement preparation in ports, airheads, and operational supply depots. Reduce errors in Joint Asset Management and Engineering Solutions (JAMES) and other logistics systems. Provide instant digital records for load planners and operational commanders.
3. Strategic Benefits in a Defence Context
3.1 Increased Deployment Speed
In surge operations, such as Joint Theatre Entry or the mounting phase of an overseas exercise, every step in the preparation chain must be faster. By eliminating manual measuring, volumetric scanners:
Cut the time to process items at Ports of Embarkation/Debarkation (POE/POD). Allow immediate packaging assessment for air transport regulations. Speed clearance through multi-modal nodes.
3.2 Improved Load Planning and Cube Utilisation
Defence transport assets — C-17, A400M, RORO vessels, and ISO containers — have fixed cubic capacities. Accurate volumetric data allows:
Tighter load plans, reducing empty space and the number of trips. Optimised weight distribution, improving safety. More accurate manifests, critical for operational handovers.
3.3 Reduced Supply Chain Friction in Theatre
Once deployed, units often rely on intra-theatre movement control centres to allocate scarce transport. With volumetric data captured at origin, these planners can make rapid, accurate decisions about consolidation, prioritisation, and backloading.
3.4 Enhanced NATO Interoperability
Many NATO partners are already using volumetric data as part of their Movement Coordination Centre Europe (MCCE) planning. UK Defence adopting the same standard:
Reduces re-measurement delays at allied ports. Increases compatibility in shared airlift and sealift operations. Improves contribution to multinational logistics efforts.
4. Operational Use Cases
4.1 Contingency Deployment
When a Joint Task Force is activated for an overseas operation, volumetric scanners at storage depots and embarkation points can rapidly digitise the load plan for hundreds of pallets and containers, pushing accurate data to Defence Movements staff.
4.2 Humanitarian or Disaster Relief
In rapid-response missions (e.g., post-earthquake aid delivery), scanners can process irregular aid cargo — tents, food parcels, generators — quickly, ensuring maximum lift per sortie without breaching aircraft limits.
4.3 In-Theatre Redeployment
During force reconfiguration, volumetric scanning enables accurate backload planning, reducing wasted space and lowering the number of required transport movements in contested zones.
4.4 Training & Pre-Deployment Exercises
On exercises such as Joint Warrior or Defender Europe, scanners can be embedded to simulate operational movement timelines, training personnel to use volumetric data in realistic scenarios.
5. Technology Options for Defence
For military applications, volumetric scanners need to be:
Ruggedised for field deployment. Portable for use in forward operating bases (FOBs) and austere environments. Interoperable with Defence’s digital systems.
Key configurations:
Fixed-site systems for main depots, POE/POD, and logistics hubs. Forklift-mounted scanners for pallet measurement on the move. Handheld or tripod-mounted units for deployed environments with no fixed infrastructure. Vehicle-integrated scanners for mobile movement control teams.
Emerging trends such as AI-assisted scanning could allow rapid measurement of irregular military loads like engineering plant equipment without manual data entry.
6. Implementation in Defence
6.1 Integration with Defence Systems
Link directly to the Logistics Information System (LogIS), JAMES, or equivalent. Automate updates of Movement Control Forms (MCF) and load manifests. Feed volumetric data into NATO’s Allied Deployment and Movement System (ADAMS) for multinational operations.
6.2 Data Governance and Standardisation
Use volumetric scanning to establish a Defence-wide cube database for standard stores and equipment. Ensure data aligns with NATO Standardisation Agreements (STANAGs) for load information. Include calibration and verification schedules in equipment maintenance cycles.
6.3 Training
Train Movement Control and Royal Logistic Corps personnel in operation and troubleshooting. Include volumetric scanning in the Defence Movements School syllabus for logisticians.
6.4 Rapid Fielding
Deploy as part of Operational Sustainment Packages alongside weighbridges, forklifts, and load planners’ toolkits.
7. Sustainability and Strategic Resilience
Defence sustainability is often thought of in fuel and energy terms, but cubic efficiency is just as critical. Every cubic metre saved:
Reduces the number of flights or convoy movements. Lowers fuel consumption in transport. Cuts operational cost and environmental footprint.
In contested logistics, fewer trips also mean reduced exposure to threat — volumetric efficiency becomes a force protection measure.
8. Learning from Commercial Best Practice
Civilian freight operators have been using volumetric scanning for years to:
Maximise payload utilisation. Eliminate billing disputes. Speed goods handling.
Defence can take these lessons and adapt them for high-readiness and deployed contexts, much as it has with barcoding, RFID tagging, and asset tracking. The difference lies in environmental resilience, security classification handling, and integration with military command structures.
9. A “Measure No More” Vision for Defence
Imagine a future Defence supply chain where:
Every item, from a single ration pack to a Challenger 3 spare part, has verified cube data at source. Every POE/POD has in-motion scanning lanes for vehicles and palletised cargo. Every deployed logistics node can scan and transmit volumetric data in seconds to Joint Force HQ. Load plans are dynamically updated based on real-time cube and weight availability.
This is not a far-off concept — it is achievable today with existing technology and modest adaptation for the military environment.
10. Conclusion
In UK Defence logistics, volumetric scanning is not a “nice to have” — it is a combat multiplier. It speeds embarkation, increases lift efficiency, enhances interoperability, and reduces operational risk. The commercial sector has proven the efficiency case; for Defence, the case is strategic.
In the next operational theatre, whether it is a NATO Article 5 mobilisation or a humanitarian relief mission, volumetric data could be the difference between delivering the right kit on time — or not at all. The technology exists, the benefits are clear, and the time for Defence to adopt “measure no more” is now.
Author: Paul Salmon FCILT
Defence Supply Chain & Logistics Leader
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