STEVE NICHOLS
Rockwell Collins hopes to build on the recent interest in its WXR-2100 Multiscan weather radar. The system was unveiled last year at Farnborough and reduces or eliminates the need for manual intervention by automatically performing radar scan patterns using multiple-tilt angles. Three different scans - long range, short range and overflight - are combined digitally to deliver a single picture. Data processing then provides a more complete picture of the weather outside, up to a range of 593km (320nm).Steve Paramore, Rockwell Collins radar products marketing manager, says that the company has customers lined up. Recent tests have shown the Multiscan to be working better than expected.
"We're having a real fun time with Multiscan. We are getting true 593km (320nm) weather definition for the first time without the ground clutter images that pilots would get with conventional weather radar," he says.
"And its ‘overflight' protection can detect storms that might be developing underneath the aircraft's flight level."
Rockwell Collins (Hall 4, Stand B4) has worked with Boeing and Airbus on fitment to a variety of widebody passenger aircraft. Air 2000 has already ordered the system for its Boeing 757 fleet and there are two other potential customers in the pipeline.
"We really only started selling about four months ago and the response has been very good," says Paramore. "The large-body commercial market is the one we're targeting, but it can fit on just about any hardware platform as long as there is enough memory in the radar to handle the data."
Rockwell Collins was the first company to provide solid-state radar, ground clutter suppression and doppler turbulence detection and was a leader in the development of forward-looking windshear detection. The WXR-2100 builds upon that technology. It is scheduled for certification on two airframes in late 2002. The following year will see a software upgrade, bringing in third beam, "look below" and advanced turbulence features.
Source: Flight Daily News
