The Spanish Army’s ground-based air defence system will be equipped with new capabilities to identify whether an air platform is a friend or foe. The IFF system will increase the safety of allied aircraft and prevent friendly fire. The contract for the project was awarded to Indra which will implement Mode 5/S IFF radar systems to facilitate enhanced “positive” identification of an air force’s own aircraft.

The IFF is a secondary radar that sends an encrypted interrogation that only platforms aware of the codes can decrypt and respond to confirm that it is friendly. Mode 5, deployed by NATO and its allies, has replaced the obsolete mode 4 and is said to be vital for participation in joint missions.

According to Indra, this mode is more difficult for the adversary to intercept due to the form of the emitted signal and its encryption by the cryptographic equipment integrated into the interrogator, whose codes are changed regularly. 

In addition to identifying whether an aircraft is a friend or enemy, the new mode 5 provides more information than traditional modes, enabling it to ascertain its position, identification number and call sign, through selective interrogations that avoid unnecessary radio emissions and facilitate stealthier and safer operations.

For highly mobile ground-based air defence systems that require rapid deployment, Indra will deliver a next-generation IFF model (I50D Interrogator) with a lightweight, compact design.

 The company will integrate the new IFFs into the firing direction centres of the current light and medium-sized anti-aircraft artillery operations centres via their respective short and medium-range radars. It will also renew the intelligent terminals associated with the MISTRAL short-range missile launching positions while incorporating the new IFFs into the Skydor firing directions, the medium-range HAWK batteries and its operations center.

Indra has installed IFF radar systems on various air, land and naval platforms for armies around the world.