The Department of Defense awarded $1.29 billion in funding through 18 new defense contracts Monday. Britain's BAE Systems (BAES.Y 1.31%) (LSE: BA) won two of them:
- A $21.7 million option exercise to supply 200 Advanced Identify Friend or Foe, or IFF, combined interrogator/transponders for installation in F-16 fighter jets operated by the air forces of Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Norway.
- A $12.8 million contract modification to supply, install, and test six AN/APX-122A Mode 5/S Interrogator units for French E-2C airborne early warning aircraft. BAE will need to develop n new AN/APX-122A IFF Mode 5/S Interrogators compatible with the French E-2Cs, and make software modifications to ensure compatibility. All of this work is to be completed by December 2018.
An IFF is a piece of electronic equipment that transmits an aircraft's identity on a frequency that enables other friendly forces to determine whether it is a threat, the aim being to minimize incidents of "friendly fire," where an allied aircraft is accidentally fired upon.
