• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

BAE SYSTEMS to support royal navy warfighting capability

09 Jan 2002

BAE Systems has been awarded a four-year prime management contract by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence to oversee Post Design Services (PDS) activities on all in-service Royal Navy Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems.

This encompasses all Royal Navy ships for which an effective IFF capability forms a fundamental enabler in meeting both peacetime and wartime roles.

The Portsmouth-based Avionics Communications & Defence Infrastructure team will be responsible for all PDS of onboard interrogators and transponders, including technical support and handbook maintenance.

BAE Systems' forty years of involvement in IFF systems encompasses both the sea and air domains. The majority of rotary wing platforms and Royal Navy ships are fitted with its transponders. In addition, a number of Hawks in service with the British armed forces are using BAE Systems' transponders and the Nimrod MR2 continues to employ the company's interrogator.
Background information:

IFF systems are "Question & Answer" systems employed to assist in the positive identification of the friend or foe status of military platforms, including both aircraft and ships. Interrogators challenge targets using coded interrogations. Transponders fitted to friendly platforms respond with coded replies, permitting analysis by the interrogator to determine their friend or foe status.

The Communications & Defence Infrastructure (CDI) division of BAE Systems Avionics supplies tactical and strategic communications systems for all three domains, together with innovative information infrastructure and IFF systems, to support battlespace digitization. The division develops defence applications based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) sub-systems and accepts development risk from customer organisations. CDI's approach features the creation of Integrated Project Teams (IPTs) with procurement specialists and user representatives, and the development of industrial alliances with other major industry centres of specialist expertise in associated fields.