Honeywell Unveils Situational Awareness System

[MarcoGT]

fonte: aviationweek.com

A surveillance and situational awareness system that combines a traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) with automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) is set to be introduced on a range of Airbus aircraft.

Designed as an enabler for ongoing air traffic management modernization, the system will enable aircraft to fly in-trail procedures (ITP) on transoceanic flights, as well as provide visual separation on approach and greater all-around situational awareness. The ITP feature, which enables crews to optimize routes while maintaining safe separation, will generate estimated fuel savings of about $100,000 per aircraft per year, says Honeywell.

The Honeywell SmartTraffic system has completed certification and will be the subject of an “imminent” service bulletin from Airbus, says the avionics company's marketing and product management VP, Carl Esposito. Initial applications will be for Airbus A320s, A330s and A340s equipped with the TPA-100B traffic computer, which will be upgraded with a software update to provide integrated ADS-B functionality. The change will be accomplished during a regular overnight service interval. “We think it’s important to think of minimizing aircraft downtime as part of keeping modernization affordable,” adds Esposito.

Although set to be introduced first by Airbus, the system is being actively demonstrated in joint Honeywell/FAA trials on a fleet of Boeing 747-400s flown by United Airlines on trans-Pacific flights. The one-year trial is set to run until April 2012 and is aimed at demonstrating the operational benefits of ADS-B-enabled ITP. The trial also includes a Honeywell TRA-67B transponder modified for ADS-B and a Class 3 electronic flight bag running Honeywell-developed ITP display software.

“We’re also looking to extend this down to the ground, and longer term these are the sort of things we are working on,” says Esposito, referring to plans for cockpit display of surface traffic information. Ground work for the next phase is under way and builds on trials conducted between November 2008 and January 2010, which included operational performance and safety assessments using Honeywell test aircraft. Trials helped develop display concepts as well as indication and alerting algorithms, and included human factors evaluation with JetBlue Airways and Alaska Airlines pilots.

Separately, a study published by GE Aviation on May 10 says near-term deployment of Required Navigation Performance (RNP) landing approaches could save U.S. airlines at least $65.6 million annually at 46 mid-sized airports across the country. The Highways in the Sky study, highlighted at Aviation Week's NextGen Ahead Air Transportation Modernization conference this week in Washington, predicts that accelerating the introduction of RNP approaches at these sites could specifically save 12.9 million gallons of jet fuel per year, equal to 527 roundtrip flights from New York to Los Angeles (Aviation Daily, May 11). At current fuel prices this would save $65.6 million, as well as reduce emissions by 274.6 million lb. of C02.