DoD certifies ViaSat's IFF flight-environment generator
NewsSeptember 07, 2017
CARLSBAD, Calif. ViaSat announced that the Department of Defense (DoD) AIMS Program Office has certified its ViaSat Radio Frequency Generator 1000 (VRG-1000), a system that replicates a crowded airspace, enabling organizations to perform realistic Identification, Friend or Foe (IFF) testing. Designers can use the VRG-1000 to replicate a true-to-life lab environment in their work to reduce flight test time and overall flight testing costs.
The ViaSat VRG-1000 is a portable radio frequency (RF) flight test generator that uses an intuitive graphical interface and multiple, simultaneous interactive interrogators or transponders to simulate a true flight experience. The tool's computer-generated motion program enables accurate attenuation and delay of signals, while the software mimics real-time coherent RF messaging in dense, dynamic signal environments. The test generator also uses KIV-77 cryptographic equipment for encoding Mode 4 and Mode 5 IFF systems.
The ViaSat VRG-1000 -- which provides 50 independent IFF interrogator and 25 independent transponder platforms -- can test both Automatic Dependent Surveillance/Broadcast (ADS-B) and Mode 5 Level 2 (M5L2) technologies to source aircraft positioning and tracking. It also complies with strict Mark XIIA IFF specifications, which are requirements promulgated by the DoD for use in high-density signal environments.