IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) is the military designation of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) System that is used to identify and track military aircraft. It enables military and civilian air traffic control interrogation systems to identify aircraft, vehicles or forces as friendly and to determine their bearing and range from the interrogator.
Identification Friend or Foe is an identification system designed for command and control. It is particularly important in the age of supersonic aircraft and missiles that make it impossible to rely on visual identification methods; and without such systems modern command and control would almost be impossible. Ensuring the capability in an ever more complex battlespace is crucial.
As threats of military conflict continue unabated from its northern neighbor, South Korea’s military officials have signaled the need to upgrade their nation’s ability to quickly determine whether incoming aircraft are friend or foe.
In a procurement package announced Wednesday, South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration revealed that has launched an Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) program that implements homegrown research and design assets, as well as overseas software and firmware technology purchases, according to Yonhap News.
The IFF system consists of an airborne transponder and a ground (or airborne) interrogator. The system measures the distance and heading to the aircraft, and the transponder encodes identification and position information into the response.
The 1994 shooting down of 2 US Black Hawk choppers by USAF F-15’s over the enforced Iraqi No-Fly Zone, is an example of what happens in case the codes are set wrong or not detected properly.
Identification Friend or Foe [IFF] procedures are the primary positive means of aircraft identification in Air Defense operations. Proper use of IFF procedures facilitates rapid engagement of enemy aircraft, conserves Air Defense assets, and reduces risk to friendly aircraft. Any time a plane flies, pilots put a code into their IFF system which others can identify as a friendly aircraft.
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