RETHINKING TRADITIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
Frequentis Defense, Inc. delivers the newest digital tower intelligent transport technologies to modernize air traffic control. The Digital Tower (DT) is innovative technology driven by a world of increased automation, evolving network protocols, integration between traditional legacy platforms and enhanced new capabilities, and increased need for greater and more collaborative situational awareness.
The Digital Tower is a scalable solution and customizable design based on Air Traffic Control (ATC) Concept of Operations (CONOPS) and mission requirements. By replacing the "out-of-the-window" view with a visualization system at a remote site, we not only increase situational awareness through enhanced visibility; we also increase safety in military air traffic control (MilATC) by allowing military controllers to execute their missions from a remote, secure location. Additionally, the operationally proven and tested controller working positions ensure safe management of air traffic, while a variety of sensors, cameras and surveillance options increase controllers’ operational view during mission execution.
Digital Tower technology significantly reduces costs by eliminating the need for an expensive physical tower, including maintenance. Digital Tower also offers defense organizations the capability to “consolidate” air traffic management in situations where there are smaller airbases, with less air traffic and minimally staffed personnel. Digital Tower creates increased efficiency and further cost reduction by routing the remote location’s visual feed to a consolidated air operations center, allowing staffing and asset management at the remote locations to be minimized or reassigned.
Real-world collaboration and deployment with US DoD
The team for Frequentis Defense Inc. (FDI), the US Air Force Flight Standards Agency, and the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic worked together to successfully complete the three trials of the Frequentis Digital Tower in 2023 at three Air Force and Naval Air Bases to prove the operational feasibility and benefits of the system for military personnel.
“We think the future is bright for the remote digital tower. We continue to do assessments of this technology; we continue to be impressed with it. We do believe it has benefits, particularly where we don’t have to put the controllers in the tower, keeping them out of harm’s way,” noted Ed Wright, Executive Director, Headquarters US Air Force Flight Standards Agency, US DoD
The deployable digital tower is set up in a military container environment, providing an enhanced, digital 360-degree “out-the-window” view incorporating a wide variety of sensors, cameras, digital data feeds, and display augmentation. It can be remotely deployed in short time frames, the control room can be in a centralized location allowing staff to work on different scenarios and all with minimal disruption to operations. The tower has been designed to enhance crew safety, situational awareness, training, and other mission requirements to support air traffic control.
The DoD saw value in the following enhanced innovative capabilities of our Digital Tower concept:
- Digital Tower enables more flexible deployment, enhanced features and new operation management concepts of operation (CONOPS).
- Objects of interest are automatically marked with classic surveillance data including call sign, speed and heading information, enabling the controller to get labels at the position of the aircraft even if it is not detected by the camera.
- Greater aviation safety, resiliency and the option to provide extended levels of service to remote regions.
- Views can be enhanced through infrared technology. For example, in bad weather, when contrast is poor, or at night, are all occasions when Digital Towers will enable controllers to see aircraft when normally they couldn’t.
- Digital Tower represents a technological and operational solution that offers the DoD an alternative to the high costs of building and maintaining new, conventional tower facilities and services.
Link to the Press Release: FREQUENTIS and US DoD enhance operator safety and situational awareness with deployable digital tower
FURTHER INFORMATION & CONTACT
For more details please download the following documents:
Deployable tower video:
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Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Frequentis Defense, Inc. directly:
Phone: +1 (443) 940-8300
E-mail: marketing@frequentisdefense.com
