Following upon Friday's post about IFF, Brian DiGiralamo of Inertia Switch provides the following news item :




Raytheon Wins Initial U.K. Identification Friend or Foe Program Awards
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Raytheon Wins Initial U.K. Identification Friend or Foe Program Awards
Selected for IFF Transponders, Interrogators and Cryptographic Computers
LEXINGTON, Mass. and LONDON, June 22, 1999 - Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTNA, RTNB) has been selected as the preferred supplier of state-of-the-art Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems for the Matra British Aerospace (BAe) Rapier air defense system as part of the U.K. Ministry of Defence's Successor IFF (SIFF) program. Upon receipt of this award in the first half of 2000, Raytheon will have three separate contracts for SIFF, totalling more than $43 million. SIFF is a multi-phase program to modernize the Ministry of Defence's land, sea and air platforms with advanced Mark XII/Mode S compatible IFF systems.

In addition to being selected for the Rapier Field Standard "C" (FSC) ground missile platform, Raytheon Systems Limited's Harlow, Essex facility, with Raytheon Systems Company's Identification Systems of Baltimore, Md., is one of two contractors involved in the initial SIFF Integration Study and Planning Phase, and is the chosen supplier for the Royal Air Force Air Defense Version (ADV) F3 Tornado fleet upgrade.

"Raytheon is well suited to perform these three parts of the U.K. SIFF program based on its more than half a century of combined U.K./U.S. experience in IFF systems," said Peter McKee, Managing Director of Raytheon Systems Limited. "These initial contracts establish our baseline solution for the balance of the U.K. SIFF program. IFF is one of Raytheon's key competencies, and we are proud to be supplying the U.K. Armed Forces with these mission critical systems."


Under the SIFF Integration Study and Planning Phase contract, Raytheon has surveyed and developed comprehensive integration solutions for 42 U.K. platform types in close co-operation with their design authorities. These integration solutions along with the IFF equipment suite provide the baseline for evaluation and selection for the Full Development Production Phase (FDPP).The FDPP will include interrogators, transponders, cryptographic equipment production and installation on the various platforms, as well as a complete logistics support package. FDPP award selection is expected early in the year 2000.

As part of the other two initial phases of the overall SIFF program, Raytheon is supplying its state-of-the-art IFF equipment onboard the Royal Air Force ADV F3 Tornado aircraft fleet and is finalising the SIFF system requirements for the Rapier FSC air defense weapon system. These upgrades include interrogators, transponders, test equipment, and associated cryptographic computers and control panels, as well as complete logistics support packages. Systems installation on Tornado will begin in the year .

Raytheon is a world leader in IFF systems. Together, Raytheon's IFF operations in the U.S. and U.K. have produced more than 40,000 transponder and interrogator systems for applications on 60 platform types in 40 countries. In addition, Raytheon has developed and produced more than 95 percent of the world's MK XII IFF cryptology.