SEOUL, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- South Korea's army has received its first delivery of Raytheon APX-119 identification friend or foe transponders for its Surion helicopters.
Raytheon said it has also delivered its APX-114 interrogators for maritime applications and mini interrogators for unmanned aerial systems made by Korean Air Lines.
"This is a major milestone in providing the Republic of Korea with the next generation IFF system to meet evolving military and civil requirements for air, land and sea applications," said Glen Bassett, director of advanced communications and countermeasures in Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems business.
The transponders provide military aircraft with combat identification capability to reduce fratricide. They also enable safe access to civilian airspace.
"The process is initiated automatically by a ground or airborne interrogator that transmits a secure message," Raytheon said. "The transponder then receives the interrogation and generates a secure response. Based on the response, the interrogator can determine range, heading and identification."
Details on the number of units delivered were not disclosed.
