Just prior to bailing out or a crash landing, the pilot would press both buttons on the bright red switch simultaneously which would detonate explosive charges built into the aircraft's radio cabinet and destroy the radio. Mounted atop the B-29's cockpit dash and and easily accessable by both pilot and co-pilot, and in the threat of potential capture of the aircraft, it enabled the bomber's crew to destroy the highly classified IFF System and prevent it falling into enemy hands. The BC-765 IFF Radio Destruct Switch Box was part of the B-29's SCR-595 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) Radio system.
IFF frequencies and technology were highly guarded by both sides so fail-safe self-destruct mechanisms were built into all radio equipment carried by aircraft flying over enemy territory. With the successful deployment and ongoing development of radar systems by both allied and axis forces during WWII, combatants were immediately confronted with the difficulty of distinguishing friendly aircraft from hostile ones by that time, aircraft were flown at high speed and altitude, making visual identification impossible with targets showing up as featureless blips on the radar screen.įirst introduced in 1939, the IFF system quickly evolved into a sophisticated radar interrogation system that transmitted a signal to the aircraft in question which would then, automatically trigger an identifying response.
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