The sensor house HENSOLDT will equip the German civil air navigation service provider DFS with state-of-the-art radar technology: DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH has commissioned HENSOLDT to deliver two units of the company’s high-performance ASR-NG® airport surveillance radar and a separate MSSR 2000 I® secondary radar for the purpose of modernising their radar infrastructure. Thanks to its outstanding detection capability, the ASR-NG is able to replace not only the existing approach control radar systems at the airports, but also the medium-range radar units, which have been in service for more than 30 years.
“Our ASR-NG offers top performance and an excellent price-performance ratio at the same time – not only for military, but also for civil air traffic control,” said Thomas Müller, CEO of HENSOLDT. “It guarantees the highest level of reliability in air traffic control, thus ensuring that people can benefit from maximum safety when travelling by air. Its extraordinary long-range and high-altitude detection capabilities allow our system to cover a volume four times as large as can be achieved with ASR units from competitors. We are delighted about the trust DFS has placed in us by again buying highly reliable radar equipment made in Germany. DFS is a strategic partner to support the future success of our company in the field of civil air traffic control.”
The ASR-NG consists of a primary and a secondary radar system. The primary radar helps to identify non-cooperative objects such as small aircrafts that do not identify themselves using their own transponder signals. It is based on a semiconductor transmitter and includes a special signal processing technology for wide-area air surveillance and 3D capability. The secondary radar, MSSR 2000 I (MSSR = Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar), ensures the automatic identification of cooperative aircraft. This secondary radar meets the new “Mode S” and “ADS-B” air traffic control standards, which greatly improve aircraft identification queries and are currently being introduced in the Central European airspace. DFS places particular importance on the option of using the MSSR 2000 I in a network and in a so-called Mode-S cluster, as it has already been the case with other customers.
HENSOLDT supplies customers all over the world with air traffic control and identification systems for military and civilian applications. For example, the company has set up the air traffic control network of the German Air Force covering an airspace of 1,700 x 1,500 kilometres. In addition, HENSOLDT equips the German Armed Forces’ airports with the ASR-S airport surveillance radar. Moreover, the company delivers a complete approach control system for the military airfields in Switzerland. Other HENSOLDT air traffic control radars are under contract for the UK, Australia and Canada.
DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH, the German air navigation service provider, is a State-owned company under private law with 5,550 employees as at 31 December 2016. DFS ensures the safe and punctual flow of air traffic over Germany. Around 2,000 air traffic controllers guide up to 10,000 flights in German airspace every day and about three million movements every year. This makes Germany the country with the highest traffic volume in Europe. The company operates control centres in Langen, Bremen, Karlsruhe and Munich as well as control towers at 16 international airports in Germany. Its subsidiary, DFS Aviation Services GmbH, markets and sells products and services related to air navigation services as well as providing air traffic control at eight regional airports in Germany and at London Gatwick Airport in the UK.
