Indra completes the first milestone in a €100 million, thirteen year program to renew Germany's air traffic radar network after validating its design with the country's air navigation service provider DFS.
The new air traffic radar network will be used to control air traffic throughout the country. The project will renew 23 surveillance systems, which will allow the management of more flights and contribute to reducing air traffic’s environmental impact.
Indra has validated with DFS the architecture and characteristics of the radars, demonstrating that they comply with the established requirements, and is doing so within the deadlines set for this large-scale program.
In total, Indra will equip 19 sites with primary and secondary Mode S radars, which will work in combination, and will install secondary support radars at another 4 locations. These systems incorporate more advanced digital technologies, such as more efficient gallium nitride (GaN) transmitters and fully digital signal processing, as well as nonlinear multisensor tracking algorithms that will provide a more precise image of air movements.
Miriam Hernández, project manager, Indra said: “These systems are capable of operating in environments with strong interference caused by rain, snow or steep terrain and of mitigating reflections caused by wind turbine plants and solar panels.
“This will undoubtedly be the most advanced air traffic surveillance network in Europe and a worldwide reference project. With it, DFS will take safety and efficiency standards to new levels of quality.
“The degree of commitment and level of collaboration between the professionals of both companies is proving to be key in advancing this program at a good pace, which is leading Indra to evolve its systems and provide them with new and more advanced functionalities”.
The systems will also incorporate the latest standards set by Eurocontrol (EMS 4.0 regulations) for Mode S radars, which are the most efficient and agile in identifying aircraft. They will also be integrated into the cluster controller developed by DFS, which avoids unnecessary electromagnetic emissions.
To supervise the proper functioning of the entire network, Indra will deploy its control and monitoring system in the cloud, which will make use of big data and artificial intelligence to facilitate predictive maintenance of the radars.
The company is currently deploying its iTEC OneSky air traffic system in eight countries, totaling more than 27,000 square kilometers of sky. It is also modernizing the integrated Network Manager (iNM) with which Eurocontrol facilitates the coordination of flights throughout Europe.
The company is also a major participant in the EU’s Sesar initiative, with which the European Digital Sky is being built.