Raytheon Co. recently unveiled its next-generation air traffic automation system for the first time at an ATC conference in Prague to obtain comments and suggestions from customers to fine-tune the open architecture product.
The new system includes all of the sorts of features commonly found in modern ATM systems, including a new aspect that may grow more important in the future: integrated processing of automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) targets.
Until recently, most ATM systems focused on radar tracking of aircraft, but ADS-B has been used by the FAA in Alaska. The FAA is also experimenting with ADS-B on the East Coast of the U.S., and Australia plans to go nationwide with ADS-B capability that operates with Thales’ Eurocat ATM system early next year.
Many European and Asian nations, including China, are interested in ADS-B, which relies on GPS positions being broadcast from the aircraft to the ground. ADS-B is attractive in part because an ADS-B ground station costs about one-tenth of a radar installation ($1 million versus $10 million).
Another key feature of Raytheon’s new system is its highly accurate 4-D trajectory capability (the three spatial dimensions plus time). The system can support 4-D trajectories in a variety of applications, including tactical trajectories for real-time adjustments while the aircraft is in flight and planning trajectories for determining flow control requirements.
The new Raytheon system can perform multi-sensor tracking of aircraft with both radar and ADS-B, and it provides the safety nets that help controllers and pilots avoid errors. It is also compatible with controller-to-pilot-data link communications (CPDLC), a capability now in use at the Eurocontrol Upper Area Control Center at Maastricht. The FAA put its CPCLC project on hold and is monitoring the European effort.
