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France selects Thales mode 5 IFF panel mounted transponders

16 June 2009

Paris Air Show, 16 June 2009 - Following a competitive tender, the Délégation Générale de l’Armement (French Military Procurement Authority) has awarded to Thales the contract for the supply to the French Military Forces of the new MKXIIA(*)-mode S panel mounted IFF(**) transponders.

The Mode 5 will provide the French Army, Air Force and Navy with a new high-performance identification capability, providing higher levels of communication security than the legacy Mode 4. With this new mode, that will further minimize the possibility of friendly fire on an aircraft or a ship, the IFF equipment will guarantee for the coming decades the interoperability of the French Forces with the NATO allied Forces.

According to the contract, Thales will develop the TSC 2032, the first worldwide mode 5 panel mounted IFF transponder with command and display unit embedded and that will enable to operate in mode 5 and mode S up to level 2 enhanced surveillance. The Mode S capability of these equipments, used for military and civil air surveillance, will be fully compliant with the latest International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standard and to the Eurocontrol regulations, enabling military aircraft to fly into the general airspace without any specific restriction.

This IFF transponder will be integrated onboard numerous French airborne and shipborne platforms: Mirage 2000, Modernized Super Etendard, Gazelle and Puma helicopters, CDG Aircraft Carrier, La Fayette-class, anti-aircraft, and ASW frigates, as well as the whole submarine fleet.

Following the IFF mode 5 / mode S contact awarded in 2007 for the Rafale fighter Combined Interrogator Transponder and the Transponder Airborne Remote (TAR), Thales strengthens its position as a leading player in the IFF domain.

To date, Thales has supplied more than 16,000 IFF equipments in more than 60 countries and has systems installed on more than one hundred platforms worldwide.

Notes to the Editor:
* MKXIIA : designate the following IFF modes: 1, 2, 3/A, C, 4, and 5
** IFF : Identification Friend or Foe