BAE Systems has secured an $11 million contract from Korea Aerospace Industries to integrate the AN/APX-127(V)1 Combined Interrogator Transponder on the KF-21 Boramae fighter, replacing the APX-126(V) currently fitted to the platform.
The APX-127 is the latest generation Identification Friend or Foe system, certified for Mode 5 and Mode S. It is billed as a drop-in upgrade that improves processing capacity, anti-jam performance and crypto resilience, with an open-architecture design intended to allow software-led enhancements rather than major hardware redesigns.
Seth Guanu, Combat Identification Products programme director at BAE Systems, said the integration supports South Korea’s wider defence goals. “The APX-127 Combined Interrogator Transponder will equip the KF-21 aircraft with state-of-the-art IFF to help bolster the Republic of Korea’s national defense strategy. This new system gives fifth-generation fighter pilots an edge in air superiority missions and allows them to maintain interoperability with U.S. and coalition partners.”
BAE Systems says the new unit offers extra receive channels for Mode 5 Level 2 and ADS-B In, enabling passive identification of friendly aircraft in congested environments. The company argues this addresses obsolescence challenges on the existing fleet while creating headroom for future sensor and data-link requirements.
Work will be carried out at BAE’s sites in Greenlawn, New York and Austin, Texas, with the first systems due for delivery to KAI in 2026 for integration and certification.
BAE Systems is a world leader in EW and IFF systems, but unfortunately the operation is based primarily in Virginia, USA. This often leads to an overestimating of the UK workshare in defence projects. E.g. it is still often claimed that 15% of the value of each F-35 aircraft goes to UK companies, but that ignores the fact that BAES manufactures the very expensive electronics suit solely in the USA (I’m not sure ITAR allows anything else?), while Roll-Royce has now moved 80% of its F-35 related work – including finally assembly of the lift fan – to its huge plant in Indianapolis, USA. With companies in countries such as Australia, Netherlands and now Germany winning an increasing number of sub-contracts from L-M, I expect that the true value of UK manufactured content has fallen below 5% when averaged across the three variants (F-35A/B/C).