Royal Australian Air Force 33 Squadron’s first Airbus KC-30A Multi-role Tanker Transport to undergo friend or foe identification enhancements has arrived home.
The aircraft returned to RAAF base Amberley in August after undergoing a 12 month testing and modification program in Spain.
The Project AIR90 program is upgrading Australian Defence Force legacy platforms that have military Mode 4 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) and civilian Modes A/C Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) systems to Mode 5 IFF and Mode Select (Mode S) respectively.
Project AIR90 sees the KC-30A upgrade from mode 4 system to Identification Friend or Foe Mode 5 (IFF M5) and an Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) capability onto the KC-30A fleet.
The Identification Friend or Foe system in simpler terms is designed for RAAF personnel to know who their friends are in the air.
In hostile and congested environment, Identification Friend or Foe M5 capability improves safety through the superior identification of platforms, which reduces the risk of friendly fire (i.e. the inadvertent firing toward friendly forces).
Mode 5 is the latest standard and provides a more secure system for crews on the KC-30 aircraft.
ADS-B improves safety by enhancing situational awareness, allows self-separation with other aircraft, and improves air traffic management.
The first AIR90 modification was completed in Spain was under contract with Northrop Grumman and Airbus.
The remaining six aircraft to be upgraded will be modified in Brisbane, Australia.
The workload for crews will not change significantly as a result of the changes under the AIR90 program. As the modification has replaced and upgraded equipment to the latest standard.
These changes are being seen as critical to the RAAF making sure that a 5th generation fighting force can operate together with coalition partners in contested airspace.
Project AIR90’s scope includes eight platforms from the Australian Defence Force including the KC-30A Multi Role Tanker/Transport, Australian Navy and Army MRH90 Taipan helicopters, Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters.
Other Australian Defence Force assets to receive this upgrade will be Royal Australian Navy ships HMAS Choules, HMAS Sirius, Huon class minehunters, RBS-70 short-range anti- aircraft missile systems, and the Tactical Air Defence Radar System.
(Aero Australia)
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