Tobyhanna Army Depot Celebrates Arrival of Navy Transporter

Personnel at Tobyhanna Army Depot marked the expansion of the AN/APX-123 common transponder workload with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 2.

An airborne identification friend or foe (IFF) system, the APX-123 is used in several branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. IFF systems are commonly used for command and control operations, utilizing a transponder to positively identify friendly aircraft. Thousands of aircraft fly with the APX-123. While Tobyhanna has had a robust APX-123 program for the U.S. Army, the ribbon-cutting denotes the beginning of depot support for the U.S. Navy’s version of the asset.

Depot Commander Col. Daniel L. Horn presided over the ceremony, which was also attended by depot senior leadership, personnel from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Naval Supply Systems Weapons Systems Support – Philadelphia, representatives from BAE Systems, and members of the depot workforce who support the project.

In his remarks at the event, Horn praised Tobyhanna’s cooperative efforts across the joint services.

“Today is a great opportunity to celebrate another collaboration with the U.S. Navy. Team Tobyhanna is proud of its enduring support to America’s warfighters,” he said.

Electronics Mechanic Supervisor Frederick Granoski leads the C4ISR Directorate’s Transponders Branch; his team will execute both a repair and test/inspect programs for the APX-123. Granoski said he is excited about the possibilities ahead.

“The APX-123 represents a significant growth for our mission, allowing us to support more of this critical asset.”

Jason Kilmer agreed.

“Not only is our workload increasing, we are also increasing our capabilities by conducting more comprehensive testing on this important equipment,” he noted. Kilmer is an electronics mechanic leader in the Transponders Branch.

Representatives from the Navy are also very excited about the new collaboration, said Capt. David Neall.

“My team and I are thrilled; we’ve been working on this project for several years and it is great to reach the finish line.” Neall serves as the Deputy Program Manager for Combat Identification Systems.

Tobyhanna is slated to repair several hundred assets for the U.S. Navy APX-123 program through at least 2030.

The acquisition of new workload such as the APX-123 is directly aligned with Tobyhanna’s long-range strategic plan, TOBY2035. The plan, which focuses on posturing the depot to be competitive in the future, has lines of effort dedicated to expanding Tobyhanna’s portfolio through securing new workload and connecting with the community. The APX-123 represents growth for the depot’s expansive support of Naval weapons systems.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna’s Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C5ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.

Tobyhanna’s unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, post production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our joint warfighters.

About 3,100 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command’s mission is to empower the Soldier with winning C5ISR capabilities.