Northrop Grumman has participated in a Russian air-traffic-control (ATC) demonstration in which remote radar data were digitised and transmitted via satellite to the Vladivostok area control-centre.
The October feasibility demonstration was conducted by Primoraerocontrol, the ATC organisation for the Primorski Krai region, in conjunction with Japanese authorities and airlines, which support the project in an effort to improve the efficiency and safety of ATC in the Vladivostok region.
During the demonstration, analogue radar data from a Russian KOREN secondary-surveillance radar, were digitised, using a Telephonics BTE-2000 beacon-target extractor and transmitted over a Russian Vostok-Telecom satellite-communications link. Remote display was provided on a Northrop Grumman AMS-2100R airspace-management-system workstation in the Vladivostok centre.
Primoraerocontrol adapted the AMS-2100R workstation for operation by Russian controllers, including use of the Cyrillic alphabet throughout the demonstration.
Northrop Grumman says that future expansion of the Vladivostok demonstration will include integration of a Russian IRL-139 primary-surveillance radar. "The ability to extract and transmit digital data from Russian radars will reduce the cost and expedite the modernisation of the Russian Far East air-traffic-control system," the US company says.
A long-awaited tender for Far East modernisation is unlikely to emerge before January, at the earliest, after the Russians had demanded significant revisions to the plan drawn up by consultancy BoozN Allen Hamilton. The plan includes the introduction of automatic dependent-surveillance (ADS) and datalink communications.
Source: Flight International
