Raytheon has teamed with AirDat and Metron Aviation to provide a new approach for the FAA’s Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) weather programs. The partnership will help the FAA meet its airspace modernization efforts through better weather information that is assimilated into weather processing systems throughout the National Airspace System (NAS), according to company officials, who noted that weather is the primary cause of delays.
The Raytheon team will address two major FAA programs: NextGen Network Enabled Weather (NNEW) and NextGen Weather Processor (NWP).
The Raytheon team will leverage FAA Automation Systems and Decision Support Tools and take advantage of integration into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) 4 Dimensional Weather Cube, company officials said.
Raytheon has over 50 years of experience in helping the FAA manage the NAS through systems such as the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS), Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS), Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR), Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and many more.
AirDat is a privately-funded company created in 2003 to develop, produce and deploy the patented (Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting) TAMDAR sensor, and to create more accurate weather forecasts and business risk solutions from its high-resolution data stream. AirDat’s capabilities include atmospheric modeling and application development, electronic design and product development, software systems development, and network design, management and data center services. Business and network operations are located in Morrisville, N.C., and engineering, research and development are based in Lakewood, Colo.
Metron Aviation is a provider of advanced Air Traffic Management (ATM) products and services for the global aviation industry, including: Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM), concept engineering, advanced research, software development, surface operations management, airspace design and environmental analysis. Metron Aviation fuses advanced science and mathematics with unparalleled ATM expertise to provide groundbreaking Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) solutions for the world’s leading Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP), airports, airlines and other stakeholders.
Raytheon, with 2010 sales of $25 billion, specializes in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. It provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services.
For more information: Raytheon.com
