[SatNews] The DoD AIMS (Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS), Identification Friend or Foe (IFF), Mark XII/XIIA, Systems) Program Office, after intensive testing in collaboration with the US Navy, granted AIMS Mark XA certification to the Sagetech XPC-TR-50 Mode C transponder, making it the smallest, lightest transponder ever to receive this certification.

A Department of Defense AIMS certification assures the user that a particular transponder complies with necessary military performance standards and interoperability requirements. The certification streamlines integration of transponders in aircraft operating in military airspace. Transponders facilitate air traffic control surveillance, and their equipage often is required.

"This certification paves the way for military use of Sagetech's transponders, particularly in airspace where air traffic controllers need to de-conflict traffic, including tiny drones," said Kelvin Scribner, Founder/President of Sagetech. "The AIMS certification is an important milestone for our customers. It makes use of our transponders that much easier."

Sagetech transponders are small enough to be carried by UAVs as light as 10 pounds, making them visible to radars and enabling controllers to provide traffic separation services. Both Sagetech and the unmanned aircraft industry as a whole are growing and maturing, transitioning to more formal systems that employ widely recognized standards. Sagetech is also expanding to apply competencies developed for unmanned aircraft to manned aviation, most notably via ultra-miniaturization of avionics.

Access more info at the Sagetech infosite: http://www.sagetechcorp.com/