Germany’s procurement authority awarded Airbus Defence and Space a multi-million Euro follow-on contract to upgrade the German Armed Forces’ identification systems to NATO’s new “Mode 5” Identification-Friend-or-Foe (IFF) standard, the company said on Tuesday.

The upgrade will improve the existing IFF interrogator and transponder equipment.

The contract covers adapting the existing STR 2000 transponders aboard aircraft in the German Armed Forces to the latest Mode 5. It also applies to the Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR) 2000 I interrogators in all land based platforms, Airbus said.

STR 2000 Transponder, the type that will be upgraded to the Mode 5 IFF standard in Germany. Photo: Airbus Defence and Space.
STR 2000 Transponder, the type that will be upgraded to the Mode 5 IFF standard in Germany. Photo: Airbus Defence and Space.

IFF systems are known as secondary surveillance radar (SSR). They precisely identify aircraft and ships by automatically sending interrogation signals that are answered by transponders on-board an incoming aircraft or ship. This allows field commanders to quickly distinguish hostile from friendly 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,” the company said in a statement.

A first contract was awarded in 2013 and the next phase of the modernization program in the current contract is scheduled to last until 2016.

Airbus has previously delivered IFF systems to several NATO countries in both ground and naval systems. This includes all German Navy ships, several U.K. Royal Navy ships, and French Navy “Mistral” class command ships.