Raytheon Company’s Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) in Philadelphia is the first FAA facility to go live with fused Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast track data for aircraft surveillance.
ADS-B, a key foundation of the FAA’s Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), enables the transition from ground-based to satellite-based air traffic control. Fusion allows a control system to combine surveillance reports from multiple sensors, including traditional radars, ADS-B and multi-lateration ground stations, into a single track. Fused tracks give air traffic controllers improved aircraft position and velocity estimates. This will help expand the airspace to safely reduce aircraft separation from five miles to three miles.
“This initial operational capability is a significant step in the evolution of Raytheon’s terminal area modernization system and helps the FAA develop NextGen capabilities,” said Andy Zogg, Raytheon Network Centric Systems vice president of Command and Control Systems. “Air traffic controllers are quickly gaining the added safety and efficiency benefits provided by our data-fusion tracker.”
STARS, designed to replace capacity-constrained, older radar approach control facilities and towers, equips air traffic controllers with critical operational information on aircraft position, flight data and weather conditions.
For more information: Raytheon.com, FAA.gov
