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Identification friend or foe

 

 
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Identification friend or foe
 
 
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In telecommunications, identification, friend or foe (IFF) is a cryptographic identification system
System

System is a set of interacting or interdependent entities, real or abstract, forming an integrated whole.The concept of an "integrated whole" can also be stated in terms of a system embodying a set of relationships which are differentiated from relationships of the set to other elements, and from relationships between an element of the se...
 designed for command and control. It is a system that enables military, and national (civilian-located ATC) interrogation systems to distinguish friendly aircraft, vehicles, or forces, and to determine their bearing and range from the interrogator.

IFF was first developed during World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
. The term is a bit of a misnomer, as IFF can only positively identify friendly targets but not hostile ones.






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In telecommunications, identification, friend or foe (IFF) is a cryptographic identification system
System

System is a set of interacting or interdependent entities, real or abstract, forming an integrated whole.The concept of an "integrated whole" can also be stated in terms of a system embodying a set of relationships which are differentiated from relationships of the set to other elements, and from relationships between an element of the se...
 designed for command and control. It is a system that enables military, and national (civilian-located ATC) interrogation systems to distinguish friendly aircraft, vehicles, or forces, and to determine their bearing and range from the interrogator.

IFF was first developed during World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
. The term is a bit of a misnomer, as IFF can only positively identify friendly targets but not hostile ones. If an IFF interrogation receives no reply, the object can only be treated as suspicious but not as a positively identified foe.

There are many reasons for not replying to IFF by friendly aircraft: battle damage, loss of encryption keys, wrong encryption keys, or equipment failure. Aircraft hugging terrain are very often poor candidates for microwave line-of-sight systems such as the IFF system. Microwaves can't penetrate mountains, and very often atmosphere effects (referred to as anomalous propagation
Anomalous propagation

In Radio:Anomalous propagation includes different forms of electromagnetic wave propagation that are not encountered in a standard atmosphere....
) cause timing, range, and azimuth
Azimuth

An Azimuth is the angle from a reference vector space in a reference plane to a second vector in the same plane, pointing toward, , something of interest....
 issues.

Method of operation