EAGLE has landed

Michael J Gething

Launched earlier this month at the ATC Conference/Exhibition held at Maastricht in the Netherlands, ITT’s Electronic Systems, Radar Systems – Gilfillan is promoting two military air traffic control (ATC) systems at IDEX.
The first, known as EAGLE (Expeditionary Airfield Ground Landing Equipment), an international version of ITT’s highly mobile AN/MPN-25 and AN/MPN-26 systems, has been designed for mobility, transportability and operation in harsh environments. Air-transportable in three C-130 Hercules payloads, it comprises an Airport Surveillance Radar/Precision Approach Radar (ASR/PAR) based on the company’s existing PAR-2000 product. It is intended for use in forward airfields as air forces move forward into tactical environments.
The second product is the Radar-Assisted Instrument Landing System (RAILS), intended to enhance its PAR, Ground Controlled Approach (GCA), AN/MPN-14K, and AN/MPN-25/26 radar systems, allowing these to be upgraded with an Instrument Landing System (ILS) capability.
This integrated capability utilises aircraft azimuth and elevation position data from the PAR sensor to transmit ILS signals on approach. The pilot is then guided onto the desired glide slope and centreline by ILS, with minimal interaction between the radar operator and pilot. In the cockpit, the pilot sees no difference between a RAILS and a standard ILS approach.
The advent of RAILS is considered “a significant achievement for ITT”, said James P. Bunnell, the company’s senior director of business development. “[In recent tests] we accomplished our goal of demonstrating its ability to meet all applicable ICAO standards for a Category I ILS in a low-cost design,” he added.