Tactical communications are military communications in which information of any kind, especially orders and military intelligence, are conveyed from one command, person, or place to another upon a battlefield, particularly during the conduct of combat. It includes any kind of delivery of information, whether verbal, written, visual or auditory, and can be sent in a variety of ways. In modern times, this is usually done by electronic means. Tactical communications do not include communications provided to tactical forces by the Defense Communications System to non-tactical military commands, to tactical forces by civil organizations, nor does it include strategic communication.
In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of transmitter and responder.
In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while engaging an enemy, long range ranging errors or inaccuracy. Accidental fire not intended to attack enemy/hostile targets, and deliberate firing on one's own troops for disciplinary reasons, is not called friendly fire, and neither is unintentional harm to civilian or neutral targets, which is sometimes referred to as collateral damage. Training accidents and bloodless incidents also do not qualify as friendly fire in terms of casualty reporting.
Identification, friend or foe (IFF) is an identification system designed for command and control. It uses a transponder that listens for an interrogation signal and then sends a response that identifies the broadcaster. IFF systems usually use radar frequencies, but other electromagnetic frequencies, radio or infrared, may be used. It enables military and civilian air traffic control interrogation systems to identify aircraft, vehicles or forces as friendly, as opposed to neutral or hostile, and to determine their bearing and range from the interrogator. IFF is used by both military and civilian aircraft. IFF was first developed during World War II, with the arrival of radar, and several friendly fire incidents.
In aviation, distance measuring equipment (DME) is a radio navigation technology that measures the slant range (distance) between an aircraft and a ground station by timing the propagation delay of radio signals in the frequency band between 960 and 1215 megahertz (MHz). Line-of-visibility between the aircraft and ground station is required. An interrogator (airborne) initiates an exchange by transmitting a pulse pair, on an assigned 'channel', to the transponder ground station. The channel assignment specifies the carrier frequency and the spacing between the pulses. After a known delay, the transponder replies by transmitting a pulse pair on a frequency that is offset from the interrogation frequency by 63 MHz and having specified separation.
The Type 99 or ZTZ-99 is a Chinese third generation main battle tank (MBT). The vehicle was a replacement for the aging Type 88 introduced in the late 1980s. The Type 99 MBT was China's first mass-produced third-generation main battle tank. Combining modular composite armour and tandem-charge defeating ERA, 125 mm smoothbore gun with ATGM-capability, high mobility, digital systems and optics, the Type 99 represents a shift towards rapid modernization by the PLA.
The AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel is an X-band electronically steered pulse-Doppler 3D radar system used to alert and cue Short Range Air Defense (SHORAD) weapons to the locations of hostile targets approaching their front line forces. It is currently produced by Raytheon Missiles & Defense.
Secondary surveillance radar (SSR) is a radar system used in air traffic control (ATC), that unlike primary radar systems that measure the bearing and distance of targets using the detected reflections of radio signals, relies on targets equipped with a radar transponder, that reply to each interrogation signal by transmitting encoded data such as an identity code, the aircraft's altitude and further information depending on its chosen mode. SSR is based on the military identification friend or foe (IFF) technology originally developed during World War II, therefore the two systems are still compatible. Monopulse secondary surveillance radar (MSSR), Mode S, TCAS and ADS-B are similar modern methods of secondary surveillance.
The air traffic control radar beacon system (ATCRBS) is a system used in air traffic control (ATC) to enhance surveillance radar monitoring and separation of air traffic. It consists of a rotating ground antenna and transponders in aircraft. The ground antenna sweeps a narrow vertical beam of microwaves around the airspace. When the beam strikes an aircraft, the transponder transmits a return signal back giving information such as altitude and the Squawk Code, a four digit code assigned to each aircraft that enters a region. Information about this aircraft is then entered into the system and subsequently added to the controller's screen to display this information when queried. This information can include flight number designation and altitude of the aircraft. ATCRBS assists air traffic control (ATC) surveillance radars by acquiring information about the aircraft being monitored, and providing this information to the radar controllers. The controllers can use the information to identify radar returns from aircraft and to distinguish those returns from ground clutter.
An airport surveillance radar (ASR) is a radar system used at airports to detect and display the presence and position of aircraft in the terminal area, the airspace around airports. It is the main air traffic control system for the airspace around airports. At large airports it typically controls traffic within a radius of 60 miles (96 km) of the airport below an elevation of 25,000 feet. The sophisticated systems at large airports consist of two different radar systems, the primary and secondary surveillance radar. The primary radar typically consists of a large rotating parabolic antenna dish that sweeps a vertical fan-shaped beam of microwaves around the airspace surrounding the airport. It detects the position and range of aircraft by microwaves reflected back to the antenna from the aircraft's surface. The secondary surveillance radar consists of a second rotating antenna, often mounted on the primary antenna, which interrogates the transponders of aircraft, which transmits a radio signal back containing the aircraft's identification, barometric altitude, and an emergency status code, which is displayed on the radar screen next to the return from the primary radar.
The Combat Identification Panel (CIP), also known as a Coalition Identification Panel, is an Identification friend or foe device mounted on military ground vehicles used by United States Armed Forces' United States Army with United States Marine Corps and its allies to distinguish them from the enemy during battle.
The United States Army Armor School is a training school located at Fort Benning, Georgia. Its primary focus is the training of United States Army soldiers, non-commissioned officers, warrant officers, and commissioned officers in the operation, tactics, and maintenance of armored forces. It also trains for equipment handling including the M1 Abrams, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the Stryker Mobile Gun System, assorted crew-served and personal weapons, various other equipment including radios, and more. The Armor School moved to Fort Benning in 2010 as part of the United States Base Realignment and Closure program.
The Type 95 is a Chinese self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle. It is armed with four 25 mm caliber cannons and optionally four fire-and-forget QW-2 infrared homing missiles. It was first displayed publicly at the Beijing Military Parade in 1999. Earlier in development the system was designated Type 90-II and Type 90-III.
Radar MASINT is a subdiscipline of measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) and refers to intelligence gathering activities that bring together disparate elements that do not fit within the definitions of signals intelligence (SIGINT), imagery intelligence (IMINT), or human intelligence (HUMINT).
The ZBD-04 or Type 04 is a Chinese infantry fighting vehicle. It bears some external resemblance to the BMP-3, particularly with regards to its turret and main armament; However, the chassis and internal subsystem possesses a different layout. The earliest prototypes received the designation ZBD-97. An improved version, ZBD-04A, is the vehicle currently in service and being produced.
The M2 Bradley, or Bradley IFV, is an American infantry fighting vehicle that is a member of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle family. It is manufactured by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, which was formerly United Defense.
The Joint Deployable Analysis Team (JDAT) is part of the J6 Directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
IFF Mark III, also known as ARI.5025 in the UK or SCR.595 in the US, was the Allied Forces standard identification friend or foe (IFF) system from 1943 until well after the end of World War II. It was widely used by aircraft, ships, and submarines, as well as in various adaptations for secondary purposes like search and rescue. 500 units were also supplied to the Soviet Union during the war.
IFF Mark X was the NATO standard military identification friend or foe transponder system from the early 1950s until it was slowly replaced by the IFF Mark XII in the 1970s. It was also adopted by ICAO, with some modifications, as the civilian air traffic control (ATC) secondary radar (SSR) transponder. The X in the name does not mean "tenth", but "eXperimental". Later IFF models acted as if it was the tenth in the series and used subsequent numbers.
