EADS supplies Advanced Identification Systems for AWACS Radar Aircraft
Friedrichshafen/Unterschleißheim, 15 February 2001
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The fleet of NATO-AWACS reconnaissance aircraft with their distinctive, disk-shaped radar antennas above the fuselage and the NATO trainer cargo aircraft of the same size will be made safer by means of advanced identification and collision warning systems of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS. Dornier Flugzeugwerft GmbH in Manching, selected as the prime contractor by the NATO agency NAPMA, has awarded a contract for the delivery of four identification and collision warning systems to the EADS Defence Electronics Business Unit. The new systems will be produced by EADS in Unterschleißheim near Munich and Rockwell-Collins Deutschland in Heusenstamm. This was reported by Dornier GmbH in Friedrichshafen on Thursday.
The ordered systems are composed of the EADS new generation IFF transponder for friend-foe identification (STR2000) and the ACAS computer of Rockwell-Collins for collision warning (TTR921). Johann Heitzmann, Member of the Executive Board of Dornier GmbH and Head of the Airborne Systems Division: "Installation and tests will be started in the summer and completed by the end of 2001. The contract includes the optional delivery of another 19 systems starting this year."
In civil airspace so-called ACAS procedures (ACAS = Airborne Collision Avoidance System) are employed to avoid critical situations and collisions between aircraft. When aeroplanes approach each other, their data are exchanged via IFF-transponder. The ACAS computer evaluates the transmitted flight data and warns the pilots in due time by means of optical and acoustic signals in case of critical situations. This system has gained particular importance during the past years on account of an increased mixing of civil and military-controlled air space. The installation of this system will enable NATO to fulfil the requirement concerning the use of ACAS systems in its aircraft from 2003 onwards.
The IFF transponder is a joint development of EADS in Unterschleißheim and Thales in France and will also be delivered to the armed forces in Germany and France. Furthermore, the transponders are designed for a future extension to mode 5. This new military operating mode allows the coded identification of military aircraft with a considerably increased information contents as well as an improved interference and interception safety.
Dornier GmbH is a corporate unit of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). EADS was formed from the merger of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG, the French Aerospatiale Matra and the Spanish Construcciones Aeronáuticas (Casa), and is one of the world's three leading aerospace companies.
For further information:
Business Unit Defence Electronics
Michael Hartwig, Tel. ++7545-8-9124, Fax ++7545-8-5888
E-Mail: hartwig.michael@dornier.dasa.de
