German sensor solutions specialist HENSOLDT will deliver its latest-technology Identification-Friend-or-Foe (IFF) products to ELTA Systems Ltd, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI). HENSOLDT was awarded by ELTA several contracts worth approximately 10 million Euros to deliver a number of MSSR 2000 ID and MSR1000I secondary radars including test equipment. The IFF systems working according to the latest Mode 5 NATO standard will be integrated into civil air traffic control radars as well as military air defence radars operated by several customer nations.
Military IFF systems, like civil air traffic control radars called secondary surveillance radars (SSR), precisely identify aircraft by automatically sending interrogation signals which are answered by so-called transponders on-board friendly aircraft. Thus, IFF enables field commanders to quickly distinguish friendly from hostile forces and helps avoiding friendly fire incidents. 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.
HENSOLDT is an expert in Mode 5 IFF. It is under contract to upgrade German, French and UK armed forces’ IFF systems to the “Mode 5” standard and has delivered IFF systems – including crypto devices – for ground and naval applications of several NATO nations. “Mode 5” is in the process of being introduced in all western armies as a precondition of joint operations of US/NATO and allied forces. Among others, the company’s equipment is deployed on all German Navy ships as well as several UK Royal Navy ships. In total, HENSOLDT has more than 700 IFF systems under contract in 42 nations.
HENSOLDT is a multinational corporation headquartered in Germany which focuses on sensor technologies for protection and surveillance missions in the defence and aerospace sectors. The main product areas are radar, optoelectronics and avionics. The company’s name can be traced back to Moritz Carl Hensoldt (1821-1903), a German pioneer of optics and precision mechanics in the 19th century. Hensoldt’s main office is in Taufkirchen, Germany. On 25 September 2020, HENSOLDT AG was listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at an issue price of 12.00 euros. Based on the issue price, the market capitalisation amounted to 1.26 billion euros.
