The Volpe Center has provided engineering, installation, and integration support for new systems installed at DoD air traffic control facilities. Pictured: a touch-screen display that is part of the Enhanced Terminal Voice Switching (ETVS) system.

Supporting National Airspace System Upgrade (USAF)

Over the last seven years, the Volpe Center has provided a broad range of support to the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Electronic Systems Center (ESC) on the Department of Defense (DoD) National Airspace System (NAS) Program. In a major effort to make the DoD air traffic control (ATC) facilities interoperable with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ATC facilities, the team has participated in a project to replace the DoD's terminal radars, voice switching systems, and terminal automation systems, as well as to consolidate several existing informational displays into a single unit. Specifically, the Center staff has provided engineering and installation support for the implementation of the following major acquisitions: Digital Airport Surveillance Radar (DASR), Enhanced Terminal Voice Switching (ETVS), Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS), and Airfield Automation System (AFAS). While each component is individually critical, together they create a dramatic, positive difference for air traffic controllers.

To perform this task, the Volpe Center has created a team with skills ranging from electrical engineering to program management to aviation operations. Team members participate in the deployment of these systems at more than two-thirds of the 177 USAF and Air National Guard (ANG) Bases worldwide. The Center has played a major role in requirements definition; system engineering; site engineering; and analysis of communications, surveillance, and automation systems for the NAS program office. These efforts, spearheaded by the Volpe Center's System Engineering and Integration Division, draw support from several offices within the Center.

Recently, the Volpe Center team achieved a major milestone when the last of more than 100 ETVS systems was deployed at the Cowboy Range Control facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. This year, the Volpe Center team has conducted more than 40 AFAS site surveys and installed AFAS at the air traffic control tower (ATCT) and radar approach control facilities at Shaw AFB, South Carolina. The ESC NAS Program Office had designated Shaw AFB as the key test site for AFAS Operational Testing. Key site testing proved to be extremely successful for future deployments of the AFAS to other sites. The Volpe Center's team efforts contributed to the ESC AFAS team receiving an ESC program quarterly award.

A Digital Airport Surveillance Radar (DASR) antenna.

National Air Space Upgrade State-of-the-Art Technology

Digital Airport Surveillance Radar (DASR) is a terminal air traffic control radar system that replaces current analog systems with new digital technology. The DASR system detects aircraft position and weather conditions in the vicinity of civilian and military airfields. Older radars, some up to 20 years old, are being replaced to improve reliability, provide additional weather data, reduce maintenance cost, improve performance, and provide digital data to new digital automation systems for presentation on air traffic controller displays.

Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) accepts data from DASR and can receive data from many other radars. STARS also accepts data from, and provides data to, the FAA's En Route Centers.

Enhanced Terminal Voice Switching (ETVS) ties the air traffic controller, air crews, and ground personnel into a digital voice communications network. These communication systems replace existing analog voice systems that are approaching the end of their life cycle, and they provide state-of-the-art, air-toground, ground-to-ground, and intercom communications for controllers of military and civil air traffic.