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Thales is in a good position to leverage airborne concepts from its civil and military portfolio to provide solutions for the future ATM environment.

Thales is already supplying technical elements of the next generation ATM system. The company's ADS-B ground stations have been selected by service providers in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America to enhance surveillance in both radar and non-radar airspace. The company has also participated in several trials to demonstrate how ADS-B data can be used to improve situational awareness, and enhance safety. In the largest ADS-B contract to date, Thales is delivering up to 1,600 ground stations to provide a nationwide network across the US.

The FAA awarded an ITT-led team the USD1.8 billion contract in August 2007 to develop, install, and operate the system to 2030. Thales is drawing on expert teams in the US, France, Germany and Italy to meet the FAA requirement, which includes a dual link ground equipment, containing both 1090 MHz and UAT datalink capabilities. Thales is also supplying the multi-sensor tracking function, that will take all the ADS-B data, plus conventional radar data, and fuse it together to create a unique track for each aircraft. The programme marks an important milestone in Thales strategic development. Long established in the US as a supplier of navigational aids, the company has had little success historically in sectors such as surveillance, communications, and automation. The ADS-B partnership could mark a change of fortune for related technologies required under the Next Gen programme. For Michel Procoudine, Air Systems Business Development manager, the US award, "is a revolution in two ways: first to go with ADS-B surveillance technology, and second to opt for a service provision contract. The programme's scope is different from Australia and will encourage others to look more closely at alternative surveillance technology. Up to now, countries looking at ADS-B wanted to cover non radar airspace or fill gaps in radar coverage. I still do not see any major shift in expenditure away from radar within the next 10 years.

"ADS-B is important because it provides the capability in advanced air-to-air applications to support Airborne Separation Assistance System (ASAS) - one of the key pillars of Sesar and NextGen," he adds. "This new concept encompasses air-to-air applications with the goal to relieve the controller from the continuous monitoring of a number of procedures, and gradually allow the transfer of tasks to the crew, eventually leading to self-separation". Thales is participating in European trials, where it has delivered five ADS-B ground stations for the Eurocontrol Cascade programme. Additional contracts include six ground stations for the French DSNA, installed for an operational use in the Indian Ocean in 2009. These provide surveillance data in a non-radar environment, and are compliant with European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulations.

This will feature in future deliveries as Thales continues to leverage technology for the benefit of future customers.