Schumer Announces Telephonics Corporation Awarded U.S Air Force Contract Worth $13 Million for Innovative Radar Technology to Ensure Positive Identification of Civilian Aircraft

Press Release

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that Telephonics Corporation in Farmingdale has received a $13.2 million contract award from the United States Air Force Material Command to produce the latest civil and military modes of air surveillance and identification. Specifically, Telephonics has received this award to produce the UPX-40 Identification Fraud or Foe (IFF) Interrogator, with Mode 5 and Mode S, for the NATO AWACS Program Management Agency (NAPMA). Work is expected to be completed in Huntington and Farmingdale.

Mode 5 and Mode S are the latest civil and military modes for air surveillance and identification, respectively. Mode 5 is a secure mode that employs new NSA-certified encryption capabilities, ensuring that only "friends" can be identified as such. Mode S is an enhancement to the civil airspace, enabling the aircraft transponder to provide additional data such as unique ID, bearing, heading and air speed to the controllers.

"This contract will allow Telephonics the opportunity to continue to excel as a world leader in providing innovative radar technology to the U.S. Air Force and NATO forces," said Schumer. "This essential system will help NATO operators ensure the positive identification of friends and civilian aircraft in our skies, and at the same time will bolster this Long Island company and support over one thousand jobs."

"Telephonics is proud to continue to support the U.S. Air Force and NATO with the world's most advanced Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) Interrogators. This contract for the delivery of UPX-40 IFF Interrogators with Mode 5 and Mode S to upgrade our legacy systems, validates the excellent performance and high quality of the products we have delivered over the last 30 years" said Mr. Joseph J. Battaglia, President and CEO of Telephonics Corporation.

Telephonics Corporation is located in Suffolk County and is a subsidiary of Griffon Corporation. Telephonics employs over 1,300 people and specializes in advanced sensor and communication systems technology serving Aerospace, Defense and Commercial markets.

Long Island has a rich history in defense and aerospace. The Apollo Lunar Module was designed, built and tested on Long Island. During the Cold War, many of the America's fighter aircrafts were designed and assembled on Long Island. A 2008 Long Island Forum for Technology study, commissioned by the New York State Department of Labor, found there to be 830 companies, employing an estimated 30,000 people, that do at least some work for defense aerospace or homeland security markets.

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