Contact vs Identified
Wow, what a buffet of answers to a simple question, and I am sure this was covered about 5 months ago.
Radar Contact means a target / PPS / RPS whatever is observed on a radar screen. That is all, it is just an RPS or blip buzzing around.
Identifed means that thru the approved procedures of SSR / PSR identification, that target has now been correlated to a known A/C and is now "Identified".
There is no such thing as "Positively Identified", a target is either Identifed or not.
Once an A/c is "Identified" it shall automatically receive radar service until it is told "Radar services terminated", procedural control then ensues and the A/C will resume normal position reports etc.
Picking up on the use of contact in RT,, i.e "callsign contact xxx on xxx.xxx"
contact implies a radar handover has been completed.
continue with implies the next agency has been pre-noted but no radar handover has taken place
freecall - is just that, neither has taken place and any service the aircraft is under would be terminated at that point.
In the military arena, identified means the aircraft has been identified on radar using an approved method of identification. Identification must take place prior to a radar service being provided. The process of identification does not imply a service is being offered.
Couldn't disagree with you more on this one "glider insider", unless you do some special secret military stuff. "Contact" when used with a frequency change just means "Call" "Switch-to" "Talk to" etc, but has nothing to do with the state of A/C Identification or not.
Once an A/C is "Identified" it remains so forever, unless "Radar services terminated" is used. This also applies in automated RDPS's between sectors, the A/C is still identified when control is transfered from one controller to the next.
The second an A/C has been identified, that automatically and immediately implies a radar service is being provided until they are told otherwise.