Hensdoldt will contribute its capabilities in Identification-Friend-or-Foe (IFF) into the upcoming IFF modernisation programme of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, the company writes in a press release. Hensoldt was awarded a multimillion Euro contract to deliver a number of MSSR 2000 ID secondary radars as well as cryptographic and test equipment and related services by the NATO Communications and Information Agency.
The IFF systems are intended to upgrade the equipment of several airspace surveillance sites of the Bulgarian Armed Forces to the new NATO “Mode 5” standard which is to improve the distinction between friendly and hostile forces and thus help to avoid friendly fire. IFF systems, so-called Secondary Surveillance Radars, precisely identify aircraft by automatically sending interrogation signals which are answered by so-called transponders on-board friendly aircraft. Thus, IFF enables field commanders to quickly distinguish friendly from hostile forces.
Unlike Mode 4 used hitherto, Mode 5 employs sophisticated encryption techniques to avoid hostile signal manipulation, thus ensuring that the identification process is absolutely reliable and secure. “Mode 5” is in the process of being introduced in all western armies as a precondition of joint operations of US/NATO and allied forces, according to Hensoldt.
JH
