Multi-Mode Mid-Air Collision Avoidance System (MCAS) Test Bed (M3TB)

"Scientific Research Corporation (SRC) researched the feasibility of adding mid-air collision avoidance capabilities to transponders providing Mode 5 Identification of Friend or Foe (IFF) as part of a Phase 1 SBIR effort. After discovering thatmanufacturers already are moving toward addition of these capabilities, further investigation led SRC to conclude that the focus of continued research and development should be toward creating a MCAS test and evaluation capability. Accordingly, SRCdevised a high-level concept and architecture for a Multi-Mode Mid-Air Collision Avoidance System (MCAS) Test Bed (M3TB). The M3TB would permit robust, ground-based testing of vendor systems using various preprogrammed air traffic scenarios, such as:mid-air refueling of aircraft, training exercises involving fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft in adjacent airspaces, and encroachment of military airspace by civilian or commercial aircraft. The development of the M3TB would provide the Government aneffective means of testing and assessing the operational performance and interoperability of various MCAS and IFF systems under controlled conditions before subjecting such systems to costly and potentially hazardous in-flight tests. This proposaldescribes how SRC plans to develop a prototype M3TB as part of a Phase 2 SBIR effort. It also describes a commercialization strategy (via SBIR Phase 3) for transforming the prototype test bed into a marketable a