hornetfinn wrote:I agree. Integration of such systems is very possible and has been done in Finland for example. We had 9K37M1 Buk-M1 (SA-11) and F/A-18 Hornets used at the same time (about 2 decades) and integrating the two was not much of a problem. It's just a matter of making some suitable hardware and software.
Actually, it's much more complex.
Alone the modern-day Russian-made hardware and software isn't compatible with 20+ years old Soviet/Russian stuff any more (indeed: not even with ATMS' made to make multiple diverse systems compatible with each other!). Especially not when it comes to IFF. And the Russians aren't the least stupid to share their crypto with anybody at all (even less so with a country that's still a NATO-member).
But integrating is still not that difficult, although it's also not a small task either especially with such powerful systems.
It's not the least 'easy', that much is sure.
Sufficient to say: yes, Turkey might be an exception, but until today the majority of customers for Russian arms do not even have the capability to write/program their own IFF-codes. And that's just the start of the story. Even once the necessary software is written and proven to function, it still requires compatibility with all the elements of the system (i.e. all the software on diverse radars, SAM-systems, aircraft etc.). And that is an entirely different pair of shoes than enabling simultaneous operation of F/A-18Cs and SA-11s within the same piece of airspace.
...so much so, 'that' issue with the IFF was the principal reasons why the Assadists blasted that Russian Il-20M all the way to Mars, last autumn..