The new Defense Appropriations Bill, totaling USD $317.5 billion, includes several provisions for funding MEMS-based bearing monitoring systems.

Microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, are intelligent monitors which integrate sensors, microactuators and micromotors on one computer microchip. MEMS components are smaller than a speck of dust. Initial research into military applications of MEMS systems was conducted by the U.S. Office of Naval Research.

In bearing monitoring applications, MEMS systems continuously measure temperature, vibration, strain and angular rotation.

MEMS are becoming increasingly important pieces of military systems, monitoring the condition, damage and serviceability on the individual component level. For example, when a bearing starts to fail due to spalling, it begins to vibrate and exhibit other operating characteristics which can be sensed, identified and diagnosed by the microprocessor-based MEMS. A failure-alert system then allows corrective action to be taken before the bearing fails and causes other problems or safety issues.

Widespread use of MEMS as intelligent condition monitors is a key component of the U.S. military's transition from time-based maintenance (per aircraft flight hour, for example) (TBM) to condition-based maintenance (CBM). CBM is far more efficient and less costly than TBM. As such, CBM is a key factor in the military's drive to improve the availability of all its assets while at the same time lowering the overall costs of ownership.

While MEMS are being retrofitted to many existing systems, they are in the basic design specifications for most new equipment. For example, a fundamental design criteria for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is the widespread use of MEMS - assuring the maximum service availability with the lowest cost of operation and ownership.