Thales’s IFF interrogator and transponder have successfully completed the Mode 5 comprehensive interoperability tests in the US Naval Air Systems Command (US NAVAIR) laboratories.

Under the first New Generation Mode S and Mode 5 IFF* contract awarded to Thales for the supply of more than 160 sets of IFF equipment, the French defence procurement Agency (DGA) and the United States Defence Department organised tests in the United States Navy command’s laboratories - US NAVAIR - located at Patuxent River, Maryland.

The tests consisted in making the Thales Mode 5 IFF systems communicate with their American equivalents in order to validate the interoperability of the developments of this new NATO secure mode.

These tests, which took place with the mode 5 encryption keys, have made it possible to validate the TSB 2512 IFF Combined Interrogator Transponder (CIT) in its interrogator and transponder functions as well as the TSC 2002 IFF transponder.

The TSB 2512 is an IFF Combined Interrogator Transponder (CIT) fitted in particular to the Rafale omni role combat aircraft.

The TSC 2002 is a remote IFF transponder fitted to many French platforms such as the C-130, the SDCA E-3F aircraft or the EC 725 helicopters.

As they share a common core with the whole Thales IFF family, this CIT and this transponder are now considered to be benchmarks for the full range of IFF equipment.

"We are very happy with the results of these tests. This success demonstrates Thales' ability to guarantee its clients the total interoperability of their identification friend or foe system within the context of NATO operations", noted Merry Michaux, Director of Communications, Navigation and Identification activities at Thales.

So far, Thales has supplied more than 16,000 sets of IFF equipment in over 60 countries and on more than a hundred platforms worldwide.