The US Navy is keen on modernizing some of its unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) with military-grade micro-mode transponders from electronic systems manufacturer Sagetech (booth 928).
The Hood River, Oregon-based company has been awarded a navy contract to estimate the cost and timeline needed to update its civilian XP Transponder to have mode 5 encrypted identify-friend-foe (IFF) technology, says Sagetech.
The updated transponders, which it calls Micro-Mode 5, would be small enough to be carried by the service's UAVs such as AAI's Aerosonde, the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle and AeroVironment Puma, it says.
Mode 5 transponders are militarized versions of civilian equipment that use encryption to allow identification by friendly combat aircraft.
NATO forces are currently upgrading to Mode 5 transponders from Vietnam-era Mode 4 equipment, the company adds.
"Now that small [UAVs] are becoming mature military systems, new requirements mandate the replacement of civil transponders with military IFF versions," Sagetech says.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
