How do mixed-bag-of-hardware military coalitions handle communications, IFF, et. al. interoperability?

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

Back in the Cold War era, there were Western-allied air forces on one side using NATO-standard communications and IFF equipment, and Warsaw Pact-allied air forces on the other side using Soviet-standard communications and IFF equipment, and they never met except as adversaries in battle. Both sides exported equipment aggressively, but only to countries they considered friendly enough.

Now, the Cold War is basically over. The major players (US, Europe, Russia) continue to make sales in the export market for their equipment, while more independent-minded folk in minor powers are not restricting themselves to a single source, leading to cases like the Royal Malaysian Air Force where Flankers and Hornets share the same flightline. However, in that case, the RMAF has the power to order or retrofit everything with the same comms radios and IFF gear, and probably has done just that so they can all talk to each other and figure out who's who securely.

However, the fall of the Cold War has also meant that fighting has centered around coalitions to neutralize specific belligerent "hotspots" (the First Gulf War being a prime example of this). This means that in some areas of the world, it is quite plausible that you have an air force with MiGs and an air force with F-16s on the same side of the fight, trying to work together against a common foe.

This raises a question though: how do you get everyone on the same side of the fight on the same page regarding communications and IFF gear? Did the Russians reverse-engineer and adopt the NATO COMSEC and IFF standards, relying on key control to keep the streams from mixing? Or would there be much furious last-second swapping of radios and IFF boxes in such a coalition situation to allow the MiG pilots and their F-16 pilot friends to talk to each other securely and to know where each other is? Would the communication situation fall on ground relays to straighten out?