What is the purpose of squawking 7777?












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Aircraft use transponders to communicate to ATC their position and status. Some squawk codes are reserved, such as 7700 (emergency), 7600 (communication failure), 7500 (hijacking), 1202 (glider), 1200 (VFR), etc. One of these, 7777, is apparently used for "military interception." What does this mean in the United States? Under what circumstances would it be used on a civilian / military aircraft?










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    2












    $begingroup$


    Aircraft use transponders to communicate to ATC their position and status. Some squawk codes are reserved, such as 7700 (emergency), 7600 (communication failure), 7500 (hijacking), 1202 (glider), 1200 (VFR), etc. One of these, 7777, is apparently used for "military interception." What does this mean in the United States? Under what circumstances would it be used on a civilian / military aircraft?










    share|improve this question











    $endgroup$















      2












      2








      2





      $begingroup$


      Aircraft use transponders to communicate to ATC their position and status. Some squawk codes are reserved, such as 7700 (emergency), 7600 (communication failure), 7500 (hijacking), 1202 (glider), 1200 (VFR), etc. One of these, 7777, is apparently used for "military interception." What does this mean in the United States? Under what circumstances would it be used on a civilian / military aircraft?










      share|improve this question











      $endgroup$




      Aircraft use transponders to communicate to ATC their position and status. Some squawk codes are reserved, such as 7700 (emergency), 7600 (communication failure), 7500 (hijacking), 1202 (glider), 1200 (VFR), etc. One of these, 7777, is apparently used for "military interception." What does this mean in the United States? Under what circumstances would it be used on a civilian / military aircraft?







      usa transponder






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      edited 5 hours ago







      Pheric

















      asked 6 hours ago









      PhericPheric

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      1389






















          2 Answers
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          2












          $begingroup$

          In countries outside of the US, 7777 may be used by test transponders (RABMs) to check correctness of radar stations (BITE). e.g. on top of a mountain.



          In the US, it seems that it is used as well on active air defense missions without ATC clearance. This would mean that the interceptor aircraft would change it's squawk to 7777 for the military/civilian air traffic controller to see it properly (if not filtered out on civil radars).



          A link to the US intercept procedures is here.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$









          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Why the downvotes? This is correct.
            $endgroup$
            – pericynthion
            4 hours ago






          • 2




            $begingroup$
            Yep, I have been wrong for about 10 years now. I would have sworn the craft being intercepted was the squawker of 7777. Edited to add my link to the FAA doc. Deleted my wrong answer, and upvoted this.
            $endgroup$
            – Ryan Mortensen
            4 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @RyanMortensen good thing you didn't get intercepted in the last 10 years :)
            $endgroup$
            – pericynthion
            51 mins ago



















          2












          $begingroup$

          According to the AIM 4-1-20(e):





          1. Under no circumstances should a pilot of a civil aircraft operate the
            transponder on Code 7777. This code is reserved for military
            interceptor operations.




          The ATC orders don't add anything useful and a lot of security procedures are classified, or at least not publicly available on faa.gov. But it seems from that information that a) 7777 is important for interception operations, and b) civilian pilots must not use 7777. That implies that 7777 is reserved for interceptor aircraft, not the aircraft being intercepted.



          The FAA's interception instructions for pilots say that intercepted aircraft should squawk 7700.



          See this question too.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$













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            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes








            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            2












            $begingroup$

            In countries outside of the US, 7777 may be used by test transponders (RABMs) to check correctness of radar stations (BITE). e.g. on top of a mountain.



            In the US, it seems that it is used as well on active air defense missions without ATC clearance. This would mean that the interceptor aircraft would change it's squawk to 7777 for the military/civilian air traffic controller to see it properly (if not filtered out on civil radars).



            A link to the US intercept procedures is here.






            share|improve this answer











            $endgroup$









            • 1




              $begingroup$
              Why the downvotes? This is correct.
              $endgroup$
              – pericynthion
              4 hours ago






            • 2




              $begingroup$
              Yep, I have been wrong for about 10 years now. I would have sworn the craft being intercepted was the squawker of 7777. Edited to add my link to the FAA doc. Deleted my wrong answer, and upvoted this.
              $endgroup$
              – Ryan Mortensen
              4 hours ago












            • $begingroup$
              @RyanMortensen good thing you didn't get intercepted in the last 10 years :)
              $endgroup$
              – pericynthion
              51 mins ago
















            2












            $begingroup$

            In countries outside of the US, 7777 may be used by test transponders (RABMs) to check correctness of radar stations (BITE). e.g. on top of a mountain.



            In the US, it seems that it is used as well on active air defense missions without ATC clearance. This would mean that the interceptor aircraft would change it's squawk to 7777 for the military/civilian air traffic controller to see it properly (if not filtered out on civil radars).



            A link to the US intercept procedures is here.






            share|improve this answer











            $endgroup$









            • 1




              $begingroup$
              Why the downvotes? This is correct.
              $endgroup$
              – pericynthion
              4 hours ago






            • 2




              $begingroup$
              Yep, I have been wrong for about 10 years now. I would have sworn the craft being intercepted was the squawker of 7777. Edited to add my link to the FAA doc. Deleted my wrong answer, and upvoted this.
              $endgroup$
              – Ryan Mortensen
              4 hours ago












            • $begingroup$
              @RyanMortensen good thing you didn't get intercepted in the last 10 years :)
              $endgroup$
              – pericynthion
              51 mins ago














            2












            2








            2





            $begingroup$

            In countries outside of the US, 7777 may be used by test transponders (RABMs) to check correctness of radar stations (BITE). e.g. on top of a mountain.



            In the US, it seems that it is used as well on active air defense missions without ATC clearance. This would mean that the interceptor aircraft would change it's squawk to 7777 for the military/civilian air traffic controller to see it properly (if not filtered out on civil radars).



            A link to the US intercept procedures is here.






            share|improve this answer











            $endgroup$



            In countries outside of the US, 7777 may be used by test transponders (RABMs) to check correctness of radar stations (BITE). e.g. on top of a mountain.



            In the US, it seems that it is used as well on active air defense missions without ATC clearance. This would mean that the interceptor aircraft would change it's squawk to 7777 for the military/civilian air traffic controller to see it properly (if not filtered out on civil radars).



            A link to the US intercept procedures is here.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited 4 hours ago









            Ryan Mortensen

            3,195635




            3,195635










            answered 5 hours ago









            blackswanblackswan

            442




            442








            • 1




              $begingroup$
              Why the downvotes? This is correct.
              $endgroup$
              – pericynthion
              4 hours ago






            • 2




              $begingroup$
              Yep, I have been wrong for about 10 years now. I would have sworn the craft being intercepted was the squawker of 7777. Edited to add my link to the FAA doc. Deleted my wrong answer, and upvoted this.
              $endgroup$
              – Ryan Mortensen
              4 hours ago












            • $begingroup$
              @RyanMortensen good thing you didn't get intercepted in the last 10 years :)
              $endgroup$
              – pericynthion
              51 mins ago














            • 1




              $begingroup$
              Why the downvotes? This is correct.
              $endgroup$
              – pericynthion
              4 hours ago






            • 2




              $begingroup$
              Yep, I have been wrong for about 10 years now. I would have sworn the craft being intercepted was the squawker of 7777. Edited to add my link to the FAA doc. Deleted my wrong answer, and upvoted this.
              $endgroup$
              – Ryan Mortensen
              4 hours ago












            • $begingroup$
              @RyanMortensen good thing you didn't get intercepted in the last 10 years :)
              $endgroup$
              – pericynthion
              51 mins ago








            1




            1




            $begingroup$
            Why the downvotes? This is correct.
            $endgroup$
            – pericynthion
            4 hours ago




            $begingroup$
            Why the downvotes? This is correct.
            $endgroup$
            – pericynthion
            4 hours ago




            2




            2




            $begingroup$
            Yep, I have been wrong for about 10 years now. I would have sworn the craft being intercepted was the squawker of 7777. Edited to add my link to the FAA doc. Deleted my wrong answer, and upvoted this.
            $endgroup$
            – Ryan Mortensen
            4 hours ago






            $begingroup$
            Yep, I have been wrong for about 10 years now. I would have sworn the craft being intercepted was the squawker of 7777. Edited to add my link to the FAA doc. Deleted my wrong answer, and upvoted this.
            $endgroup$
            – Ryan Mortensen
            4 hours ago














            $begingroup$
            @RyanMortensen good thing you didn't get intercepted in the last 10 years :)
            $endgroup$
            – pericynthion
            51 mins ago




            $begingroup$
            @RyanMortensen good thing you didn't get intercepted in the last 10 years :)
            $endgroup$
            – pericynthion
            51 mins ago











            2












            $begingroup$

            According to the AIM 4-1-20(e):





            1. Under no circumstances should a pilot of a civil aircraft operate the
              transponder on Code 7777. This code is reserved for military
              interceptor operations.




            The ATC orders don't add anything useful and a lot of security procedures are classified, or at least not publicly available on faa.gov. But it seems from that information that a) 7777 is important for interception operations, and b) civilian pilots must not use 7777. That implies that 7777 is reserved for interceptor aircraft, not the aircraft being intercepted.



            The FAA's interception instructions for pilots say that intercepted aircraft should squawk 7700.



            See this question too.






            share|improve this answer









            $endgroup$


















              2












              $begingroup$

              According to the AIM 4-1-20(e):





              1. Under no circumstances should a pilot of a civil aircraft operate the
                transponder on Code 7777. This code is reserved for military
                interceptor operations.




              The ATC orders don't add anything useful and a lot of security procedures are classified, or at least not publicly available on faa.gov. But it seems from that information that a) 7777 is important for interception operations, and b) civilian pilots must not use 7777. That implies that 7777 is reserved for interceptor aircraft, not the aircraft being intercepted.



              The FAA's interception instructions for pilots say that intercepted aircraft should squawk 7700.



              See this question too.






              share|improve this answer









              $endgroup$
















                2












                2








                2





                $begingroup$

                According to the AIM 4-1-20(e):





                1. Under no circumstances should a pilot of a civil aircraft operate the
                  transponder on Code 7777. This code is reserved for military
                  interceptor operations.




                The ATC orders don't add anything useful and a lot of security procedures are classified, or at least not publicly available on faa.gov. But it seems from that information that a) 7777 is important for interception operations, and b) civilian pilots must not use 7777. That implies that 7777 is reserved for interceptor aircraft, not the aircraft being intercepted.



                The FAA's interception instructions for pilots say that intercepted aircraft should squawk 7700.



                See this question too.






                share|improve this answer









                $endgroup$



                According to the AIM 4-1-20(e):





                1. Under no circumstances should a pilot of a civil aircraft operate the
                  transponder on Code 7777. This code is reserved for military
                  interceptor operations.




                The ATC orders don't add anything useful and a lot of security procedures are classified, or at least not publicly available on faa.gov. But it seems from that information that a) 7777 is important for interception operations, and b) civilian pilots must not use 7777. That implies that 7777 is reserved for interceptor aircraft, not the aircraft being intercepted.



                The FAA's interception instructions for pilots say that intercepted aircraft should squawk 7700.



                See this question too.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered 1 hour ago









                PondlifePondlife

                51.1k8138284




                51.1k8138284






























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