AUTOMATED AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM CONCEPTS

THE U.S. AIR FORCE AND OTHER DEFENSE ELEMENTS HAVE RECOGNIZED THE NEED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF THE LACK OF SURVIVABILITY OF CURRENT AIR TRAFFIC MANAGMENT CAPABILITIES IN A CONVENTIONAL WAR. TACTICAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ATC) SYSTEMS MUST ENSURE THE SAFE MOVEMENT OF AIRCRAFT USING PASSIVE IDENTIFICATION AND DATA LINK EXCHANGES. THIS WILL REQUIRE THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION AND COMPATIBLE HARDWARE INTERFACES WHICH MUST FULLY CONSIDER INTEROPERABILITY OF THE INTERSERVICE AND INTERNATIONAL COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEMS INVOLVED. CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW BY USAF IS A CONCEPT DEFINITION PROGRAM FOR A SURVIVABLE PASSIVE ATC AND AIRSPACE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. THIS PASSIVE ATC AND AIRSPACE MANAGEMENT EQUIPMENT MUST BE READILY COMPATIBLE WITH SURVIVING CIVIL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS AND INTERFACE WITH NATO AND ALLIED FORCED C(3) TACTICAL HARDWARE PROTOCOLS AND MESSAGE FORMATS. THE INTERFACES FOR NATO COMPABIBILITY WILL BE IDENTIFIED INCLUDING THE OPERATIONAL COMMAND AUTHORITIES AND THE COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEMS TO BE INTEGRATED. FURTHER, BY DEVELOPING THE HARDWARE INTERFACE DESIGN CRITERIA, THIS EFFORT WILL PROVIDE THE RESEARCH FOR RAPID HARDWARE INTEGRATION OF THE PASSIVE ATC AND AIRSPACE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITH THE EXISTING BATTLEFRONT COMMAND, CONTROL AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS.