Successor IFF Equipment Sets off to Sea

The UK Ministry of Defence's new identification "friend or foe" system has been successfully installed on key British warships that operate from Portsmouth and Plymouth.

The first batch of the new system known as Successor Identification Friend or Foe (SIFF) has been fitted to an initial 14 ships that include Mine Countermeasure Vessels (Hunt and Sandown class), submarines, Royal Fleet Auxiliaries and Survey Vessels. Over the next five years SIFF will be installed on over 1,000 of the MoD's ships, aircraft and missile platforms.

SIFF will provide the Navy, RAF and Army with a secure, sophisticated and robust system to discriminate between friendly and hostile forces and thereby reduce the risk of so-called "friendly fire". Designed to a common NATO standard and installed on a wide array of military equipment, SIFF will enable Naval ships to interoperate with not just British Army and RAF military platforms, but also those used by other NATO countries equipped with SIFF.

Mike Roach, SIFF Team Leader at the MoD's Defence Procurement Agency said, "The need to identify friendly forces with high confidence in any area of military operations is a core aspect of both NATO and British defense doctrine. SIFF will be key for war-fighting efficiency and in minimising the risk of fratricide. We're delighted that the Navy are receiving this vital piece of kit on schedule."

SIFF will replace a wide range of different identification systems that are currently in use, with a single tri-service unit. This will significantly enhance operational flexibility and reduce support costs.

MoD awarded the £100 million SIFF Prime Contract to Raytheon Systems Ltd in December 2000. SES is a key supplier to Raytheon for this programme, providing 4 varieties of control and display units (CDUs) for SIFF installations.

The contract has represented £7.9M of business for SES who are under contract to provide CDUs for installation on nearly 1,000 platforms covering some 30 different types, including warships, submarines, helicopters, fighter and transport aircraft.