It's technical, but between certain units we are required to identify you, and other units we are not. eg between UAE and Bahrain, no need for ident. Between Bahrain and Kuwait, ident required. And it is enforced by the 'higher ups'.
Ideally, pilots would know when to include the squawk with check in. However, it's not reasonable to expect that as the rules of wherefors and whys are pretty stupid. So, Togalk, if guys want to say their squawk at every change, let them. It actually helps us when busy because we don't have to go back and ask for the ident or 'say squawk'.
If you are bored and want to know why: The agreement between Bahrain and Kuwait does not require radar link sharing, it is just a 'nice to have' so it is not guaranteed. Just because it is functioning 99.9% of the time doesnt matter. Kuwait may turn off their radar at any time without telling anyone else, and Bahrain can only see inbound traffic from Jeddah/Riyadh via the Kuwait link. However, the overlapping covering of each others radars in UAE and Bahrain means permanent and constant radar handoffs.
Last edited by ferris; 13th Dec 2011 at 00:01.