94 Product focus | Transponders Where quality is found to be lacking, a production house with skilled technicians will resolder or otherwise remanufacture the offending transponder under microscopes to the desired standard until it passes validation, rather than dispose of the system and generate waste. Future moves As future requirements for ACAS in uncrewed aviation develop, the minimum components and functions of a transponder will expand to encompass certified GNSS, pressure sensing or encryption (for military integrators) components. However, interrogators will form a critical part of the mix within the next few years, so that transponders can identify when another UAV’s GNSS is being spoofed (when time-of-flight data does or does not correspond with the ADS-B data on the position and heading being received). Future conversations will merit deepdives into how higher-end interrogators are made, how transponders may integrate them while remaining SWaP-optimised, and how interrogations may be performed without congesting airspace. While it may feel to the casual observer that regulators’ standards and TSOs come out so often that transponders will need to change and update all the time, the reality is that standards on transponders themselves – ACAS standards (and how those might build upon transponders) notwithstanding – are expected to stay as they are for many years to come. Future technical updates on transponders will therefore likely focus more on advancements in the wider ecosystem of uncrewed air traffic safety, covering devices for GNSS, receivers, transceivers, and conspicuity, and how these may be tailored for the differing requirements of small versus large UAVs, as well as fixed-wing versus rotary uncrewed aircraft. August/September 2024 | Uncrewed Systems Technology AUSTRALIA Microair Avionics +61 7 41553048 www.microair.com.au GERMANY Air Avionics +49 6224 98 96 999 www.air-avionics.com ITALY Leonardo +39 063 24731 www.leonardocompany.com POLAND Aerobits +48 500 501 305 www.aerobits.pl SPAIN Indra +34 914 805 000 www.indracompany.com UK Trig Avionics +44 (0)131 449 8810 www.trig-avionics.com USA Avidyne +1 781 402 7400 www.avidyne.com BAE Systems - www.baesystems.com Collins Aerospace +1 704 423 7000 www.collinsaerospace.com Harris Corporation +1 321 727 9100 www.harris.com Honeywell +1 602 365 3099 aerospace.honeywell.com Kratos Defence +1 858 812 7300 www.kratosdefense.com L3Harris +1 623 445 7040 www.l3harris.com Micro Systems +1 850 244 2332 www.kratos-msi.com NextGen UAS Transponders - www.nextgenuastransponders.com Northrop Grumman +1 847 259 9600 www.northropgrumman.com Raytheon +1 781 522 3000 www.raytheon.com Sagetech +1 509 281 9988 www.sagetech.com Sierra Nevada Corporation +1 775 331 0222 www.sncorp.com Thales +1 240 864 7000 www.thalesdsi.com uAvionix +1 844 827 2372 www.uavionix.com Some examples of transponder manufacturers and suppliers
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