ARMY AL&T
Another key component of the Next Gen is a transition to space-based navigation. In addition to aircraft self-reporting position data, they will have the capability to conduct preci- sion approaches using horizontal and vertical guidance provided by Global Positioning System satellites and refined by ground stations. This technology will integrate into Army ATC once the combat developer requirement is approved, the joint services come to agreement on common implemen- tation, and adequate resources are designated for integration, testing, training, and support.
Advances in automation have added capabilities to platforms far beyond those imagined at inception. One example is the Tactical Airspace Integration System (TAIS). TAIS pro- vides airspace managers with a powerful tool for accomplishing the Army C2 mission, a mission that can no longer be accomplished using traditional tactics—fixed altitudes, preplanned routes, and static control
Aircraft self-reporting their positions will not only facilitate the transition from ATC to air traffic management but will also allow for a reduction in ground-based legacy sensors, including radar and secondary surveillance radars.
measures that reserve huge blocks of airspace for long periods of time.
Originally envisioned and designed as a modern tactical flight-following facility, TAIS has grown to encompass airspace C2, dynamic airspace manage- ment, and a migration from a complex operating system to a commonly used and understood commercial product. As the Army’s system of record for airspace management and en-route air traffic services, TAIS provides automated tools to plan, deconflict, synchronize, integrate, and execute operations in the third dimension of the battlefield for manned, unmanned, civilian, and military aircraft.
TAIS determines conflicts between sets of airspaces and between airspaces and terrain, providing the planner with decision aids to develop, execute, and monitor the airspace plan in accordance with the commander’s risk parameters.
TAIS also provides near-real-time situ- ational awareness of the air picture, received through Tactical Digital Infor- mation Links, Blue Force Tracker, myriad radar feeds, and operator-generated flight-following tracks; it constantly checks the position of these air platforms against active airspaces and alerts the TAIS operator when the boundaries of active airspace measures are penetrated.
The single biggest modernization chal- lenge facing the ATC community is the growing demand for UAS in controlled airspace. Integrating unmanned and manned aircraft in the same operational environment poses unique challenges to the ATC community as a whole and the military in particular. Successfully managing the combined use of con- trolled airspace will take the science of ATC to the next level of technical and procedural development.
The Voice Communications Switching System exemplifies the ongoing modernization of ATC fixed-base operations. (Photo courtesy of PM ATC.)
27 OCTOBER –DECEMBER 2010
LTC KEVIN D. MOBLEY is the Product Manager for Army Air Traffic Control Systems. He holds a B.S. in business administration/ marketing from California State University-Sacramento and an M.S. in materiel acquisition management from the Florida Institute of Technology. Mobley is Level III certified in program management and test and evaluation, and is a U.S. Army Acquisition Corps member.
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