Subscribe to the Free Print Edition!
Celebrating 25 Years

GCN Home > 10/21/03 web stories

FAA set to install digital radars nationwide

By Mary Mosquera, GCN Staff

The first all-digital radar system is ready for deployment to airports nationwide, the Federal Aviation Administration said today.

The Airport Surveillance Radar-11 will replace older-generation analog radars that are nearing the end of their service life. FAA plans to buy 112 ASR-11 system from contractor Raytheon Co. and finish deploying them in 2009.

Digital radar is critical for a modern airspace system, FAA administrator Marion Blakey said. “The ASR-11 feeds more data more reliably to air traffic control for greater safety and efficiency,” she said.

The ASR-11 systems provide improved input about aircraft and weather needed by FAA’s new air traffic control automation applications, such as the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS).

To test the radars, FAA deployed them at two airports. The first ASR-11 went operational in March at the Naval Air Station in Willow Grove, Pa. Next, FAA installed a radar to provide data to STARS at the Philadelphia International Airport [see GCN story].

More news on related topics: IT Infrastructure



GCN Popup