Lightweight Cassidian transponder is certified for both military and civil applications

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has certified Cassidian's newly developed LTR 400 family of transponders, to the latest standards. This includes both civil as well as military applications for the equipment. The very low weight equipment, which is suitable for the identification of military aircraft as well as for use in civil air traffic control, is thus amongst the first in Europe to achieve this platform-independent approval.

"This approval to an especially standardised procedure improves access to the worldwide market for our identification systems. We are thus helping to optimise safety in civil and military air traffic," explains Bernd Wenzler, CEO of Cassidian Electronics. "It saves platform manufacturers the costs and risks of specific approvals for different types of aircraft."

At 2.8 kilograms, the LTR 400 is currently the smallest and lightest transponder worldwide, which can be used without any restrictions for both civilian air traffic control and military applications to identify friendly units. This unit operates to the latest civilian air traffic control standard, Mode S "Enhanced Surveillance". Together with the encryption and decryption computers from Cassidian, it can also be used in all currently widespread military modes. Due to its low weight, the LTR 400-A is particularly suitable for use on board helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. This equipment has already been ordered to equip Eurocopter's EC 635 helicopter.

Transponders are a crucial element to ensure safety in air traffic. As part of air traffic control, interrogators - which are also called "secondary radars" - emit signals to request flight data from individual aircraft, e.g. on their origin, course or speed. These requests are then automatically answered by transponders located on board the approaching aircraft, so that the position of each individual aircraft can always be reliably identified. Military aircraft also respond to these non-military requests. They even transmit additional data in an encrypted mode, allowing all aircraft to be unmistakably identified, e.g. during military operations, thus preventing inadvertent friendly attacks. For this reason, military aircraft require transponders with both civil and military functions.

Cassidian has wide experience in the field of military and civil air traffic control. Its Cassidian Electronics business unit has already supplied numerous military identification systems for air, naval and ground applications to a number of armed forces, e.g. in Germany, France, Finland and Australia. For civil air traffic control, Cassidian's identification systems are used in countries such as Portugal and the Philippines.

Source: Cassidian

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