BAE Systems to provide hundreds of aircraft IFF transponders under terms of $34.3 million contract
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 12 Dec. 2014. U.S. Navy experts are asking the BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration segment in Greenlawn, N.Y., to provide hundreds of identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) transponders for military aircraft under terms of a $34.3 million contract awarded this week.
The contract involves IFF transponders for jet fighter-bombers, helicopters, trainer aircraft, and transport aircraft. IFF transponders transmit coded messages that identify aircraft as friendly and determines their range and bearing from ground- or air-based interrogators.
The contract calls for BAE Systems to provide 53 AN/APX-117A(V), 10 AN/APX-118A(V), and 661 AN/APX-123A(V) IFF transponders for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, U.S. National Guard, and the governments of Qatar, Australia, Korea, Turkey, and Denmark.
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BAE Systems also will provide 217 Mode 5 change kits and 67 integrations of mode 5 change kits for the Navy; three mode 4 remote control units for the Navy and National Guard; and 111 mode 5 radio control units for the Navy and National Guard.
This contract also asks BAE Systems to provide 121 IFF mounting, six receiver/transmitters, two single-board computers, 20 power supplies, six signal processors, four mode 4 chassis, four mode 5 chassis, seven mode 4/5 with crypto shop replaceable assemblies, one mode 4 with crypto SRA, and five dummy receiver transmitter chassis for the Navy.
BAE Systems also will repair 10 AN/APX-117A(V) IFF transponders, 30 AN/APX-118A(V) IFF transponders, 30 AN/APX-123A(V) IFF transponders, five radio control units, and software engineering support for the Navy.
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The AN/APX-117A(V), AN/APX-118A(V), and AN/APX-123A(V) are part of the BAE Systems common transponder (CXP) family that is the Navy's and Army's standard transponder for all retrofit and new aircraft applications.
The transponders are built on an open-system architecture and high-density field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology that provides for system flexibility and future systems improvements through software-only upgrades.
The CXP family of IFF transponders is configured for replacement of all AN/APX-100, AN/APX-101, AN/APX-108, AN/APX-64, AN/APX-72 and AN/UPX-28 transponders. All CXP transponders weigh less than 12 pounds with embedded crypto, and measure 5.375 by 5.375 by 8.375 inches. Their radio control units measure 5.25 by 5.75 by 3 inches.
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On this contract BAE Systems will do the work in Greenlawn, N.Y., and Scottsdale, Ariz., and should be finished by September 2016. For more information contact BAE Systems Electronic Systems online at www.baesystems.com or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
