US Army introduces military facial recognition system at checkpoint

In early April 2021, it became known that the US Army is developing a new system of biometric cameras for recognizing the faces of the military at the checkpoint. The new software will compare images taken by the camera with a pre-created gallery of approved persons. A corresponding tender for the development of technology has been announced.

The new method will combine a one-to-one identification algorithm to compare a new image with already known photographs of a given person and a one-to-many identification algorithm that compares the obtained image with a wide database in search of a specific person.

US Army introduces military facial recognition system at checkpoint

Such a "golden middle" approach, used by other government agencies, has a higher level of accuracy than one-to-many algorithms, but only if the environment allows for a usable image. For army checkpoints, this will be an important factor. The software being developed should accurately capture the image of the face through the windshield in various weather conditions at daytime and at night.

The army intends to introduce new cameras following the results of work with small enterprises as part of a phased development program. The first stage of the competition will last six months, the maximum amount for the proposed software will be $259.6 thousand. The second phase involves the development and demonstration of a prototype system at a simulated checkpoint constructed by the Government. By this time, the system should be able to identify drivers and passengers with 100% accuracy. The third phase will include the deployment of the system to specific army facilities.

Army officials also requested proposals for automatic correction of distorted biometric data in the US Department of Defense Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), as previous data sources are hopelessly outdated.^[1]

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