Russia begins testing IFF system for drones

The Russian state holding Rosel has announced the start of testing an automatic drone recognition system based on the ‘identification, friend or foe’ system within a radius of 100 kilometers.

This was reported by the press service of the Russian state corporation Rostec, which includes the above-mentioned holding.

The drone recognition system automatically marks friendly drones at an altitude of up to 5 km and at a distance of up to 100 km from the requesting device.

A key component of the new system is a radar identifier that is installed directly on the drone. It will work with stations that use the Russian state recognition system, similar to IFF systems used to identify tactical aircraft.

The corporation said that the weight of the device does not exceed 90 grams, and its power consumption is minimal, which will allow it to be built into a wide range of civilian and special-purpose drones, from agricultural to geodetic.

One of the prototypes is already being tested on the Geodesy-401 drone for industrial aerial photography. However, it is possible that the new technology will be more widely used in reconnaissance drones of the Russian army.

The head of the Aerorozvidka NGO, Lieutenant Colonel Yaroslav Honchar, believes that it was only a matter of time before such a system appeared on Russian drones. The presence of such a system in the enemy’s possession will open up new capabilities for them.

“The ‘identification, friend or foe’ system can affect the visibility of a drone – this is a fact. But the key focus is not on defense, but on the interaction in the airspace between aviation and UAVs. The Russians are focusing on improving the efficiency of their aviation, in particular, to avoid air incidents and improve coordination,” Honchar says.

He noted that Ukraine should’ve already focused on the development of its own weapons, taking into account the possibility of using that technology by the enemy.

Yaroslav Honchar also told Militarnyi about the Ukrainian drone identification technology UA Drone ID, which allows to determine the ownership of drones with the IFF system.

“This system is integrated into the DELTA ecosystem, which provides situational awareness on the battlefield and helps minimize cases of friendly fire. The technology has already been tested in combat with attack drones, and it has proven its effectiveness in improving the safety and efficiency of missions,” he said.

UA Drone ID is a joint development of the Ministry of Defense Innovation Center, Aerorozvidka NGO and CossackLabs. Currently, its creators are working on an analysis system that will select the best means to defeat specific targets.