The United States Navy is actively seeking private sector partners to collaborate on a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) in order to advance its exclusive blockchain technology known as “PARANOID.” PARANOID, which stands for Powerful Authentication Regime Applicable to Naval Operational Flight Program Integrated Development, is a blockchain-based system designed to enhance the security of software during its development and deployment stages.
The Naval Air Warfare Center’s Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) based in Lakehurst, New Jersey, originally created and developed PARANOID to safeguard avionics software for the U.S. Navy. However, it soon became apparent that the technology could be applied to any software development project that requires enhanced security measures.
The PARANOID system ensures the protection of software throughout its development process by continuously verifying files across multiple nodes using blockchain technology. Every action taken by a developer is recorded as an entry on the PARANOID blockchain, creating a comprehensive ledger of activity.
In the event that malicious individuals attempt to compromise software during its development by altering, replacing, or deleting code or files, these unauthorized changes would be unable to pass verification against the immutable database stored on the PARANOID blockchain.
According to a blog post by TechLink, the U.S. Department of Defense’s technology transfer partner, the U.S. Navy is now providing private sector entities with the opportunity to contribute to the research and development of the PARANOID system.
Nida Shaikh, senior technology manager at TechLink, commented that while PARANOID appears to be the first proprietary blockchain invention being commercialized by the U.S. Navy, it is not the military’s initial venture into blockchain technology. Both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy have previously established partnerships with SIMBA Chain, a data exchange platform incubated at Notre-Dame that utilizes blockchain technology to enhance the security of supply lines.
In a related development, the U.S. Navy has recently awarded a $1.5 million contract for jet fighter projects to a blockchain initiative.