AUTOMATED AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM CONCEPTS

FUTURE MILITARY AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ATC) SYSTEMS WILL USE TECHNOLOGIES SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCED OVER TODAY'S EQUIPMENTS. THE SYSTEM WILL BE PASSIVE IN THAT THEY WILL USE AIRCRAFT DERIVED POSITION DATA IN LIEU OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY RADAR DATA. IT WILL BE HEAVILY RELIANT ON AUTOMATED AND SEMI-AUTOMATED PROCESSING TECHNIQUES FOR TRACKING, ROUTING AND THE OTHER BASIC CONTROL FUNCTIONS. THE CONTROLLER'S ACTIVITIES WOULD BE CONTROL BY EXCEPTION. DATA LINKS WOULD PERFORM THE A/G COMMUNICATION TASKS. THE SYSTEM WOULD HAVE MORE INTEROPERABILITY WITH BATTLEFIELD MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (BMS) THAN IS PRESENTLY DONE BY CONVENTIONAL ATC SYSTEM. THIS PROPOSAL WILL ADDRESS TWO APPROACHES TOWARD DEVELOPING THE ADVANCED ATC SYSTEM (AATCS). ONE WILL BE THE INVESTIGATION OF TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED INTO EXISTING OR PLANNED TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC BMS. THIS TO EVALUATE THEIR POTENTIAL APPLICATION TO AATCS WITH THE AIM OF MAKING AATCS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE OVERALL BMS. THE SECOND APPROACH WILL INVESTIGATE THE PRACTICABILITY OF A STAND ALONE AATCS, USING SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES, BUT FUNCTIONING AS AN INDEPENDENT ATC SYSTEM INTERFACED WITH THE BMS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PHASE I EFFORT WILL BE TO DEVELOP A BASIC SYSTEM CONCEPT THAT CAN BE DEMONSTRATED UNDER A PHASE II PROGRAM.