Early US jets used the AN/APX-6 IFF "transpondor," which employed the 'security through obscurity,' and which was equipped, just like its WW II predecessors, with three explosive charges to destroy its crucial assemblies to conceal the operational frequency should the equipment fall into enemy's hands. Nevertheless, the AN/APX-6 was apparently compromised, which led to the creation of the AN/APX-25 IFF with the Selective Identification Feature (SIF) coder that used 'overt' frequencies of 1090 and 1030 MHz.
The AN/APX-6 is elaborated at:
My question is: when and how was the AN/APX-6 compromised? Did it happen when the Soviets seized an F-86 Sabre jet during the Korean War? Or was an AN/APX-6 set simply stolen somewhere?
The AN/APX-6 is elaborated at:
My question is: when and how was the AN/APX-6 compromised? Did it happen when the Soviets seized an F-86 Sabre jet during the Korean War? Or was an AN/APX-6 set simply stolen somewhere?