Finmeccanica, in collaboration with the Defense General Staff, has successfully demonstrated the integration of the "Mode 5 Reverse-IFF" system (Identification Friend-Foe - friend-foe identification) with air-to-ground capacity, aboard a Eurofighter Typhoon 1 Tranche. NATO representatives attended the simulation, which took place at the Experimental Flight Center of the air base of Pratica di Mare (RM).
An IFF system provides fighter pilots with the ability to distinguish between other allied aircraft and potential threats by sending an interrogation signal and verifying that the other aircraft responds with an acknowledgment signal. A "reverse-IFF" system uses the same principle to interrogate ground vehicles, allowing the pilot to understand where Allied Ground Forces are located before any armed intervention. The system is called reverse because the aircraft uses its transponder, usually used to answer queries from other aircraft, to interrogate ground vehicles.
For the demonstration of the system, a Typhoon of the Italian Air Force simulated a close air support operation at the air base in Pratica di Mare (Rome), questioning some vehicles during the flight Lynx of the Italian Army, with its "reverse-IFF" system. As soon as the Lynx vehicles responded with "friendly" signals, the Typhoon immediately suspended the air-to-ground support activity that could, incidentally, have side effects on friendly Forces.
NATO is evaluating the "Mode 5 Reverse-IFF" system as a possible short-medium term solution for air-to-ground identification, able to avoid friendly fire during joint operations between the coalition forces.
Finmeccanica has successfully demonstrated the possibility of easily integrating this additional function into the transponder already on board the aircraft. Integration activities were conducted by the Experimental Flight Department - Italian National Support Center EF2000 (IT NSC) in Experimental Flight Center at the Air Force base in Pratica di Mare. At the EF2000 support center, Air Force experts worked alongside companies, mainly from Finmeccanica, to integrate and test the solution.
The latest standard of the "Mode 5" was studied at the end of the 90 years and developed starting from the 2000 by Finmeccanica, before being adopted by NATO as the new standard for military platforms that will be mandatory for NATO members around the 2020.
Experimental Flight Department and Italian National Support Center (IT NSC)
Il Experimental Flight Department (RSV) is the department that deals with flight testing activities within the Experimental Flight Center of the Italian Air Force. Inside the RSV, theItalian National Support Center EF2000, which is based in a sophisticated laboratory that includes an avionics integration plant and a software development center. The IT NSC is qualified for the development and integration of avionic changes made at the national level.
