ITT awarded big ADS-B contract

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected White Plains, New York-based ITT Corporation as the prime contractor for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), the central technology in the Next Generation Air Transportation System. The new system promises to reduce delays and enhance safety by using precise signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System instead of those from traditional radar to pinpoint aircraft locations. “This signals a new era of air traffic control,” said FAA deputy administrator Bobby Sturgell. “ADS-B — and, in turn, NextGen — will attack the delay problem head on by dramatically increasing air traffic efficiency.”

ITT will be required to have the system ready for use by 2010 and enable it to cover the entire nation by 2013. Along with air traffic displays, ADS-B will also give pilots graphical weather information, terrain maps and flight information, including temporary flight restrictions and notices to airmen. The FAA says ADS-B is nearly ten times more accurate than radar. It will allow controllers and pilots to know the precise location of aircraft, resulting in more direct flight routes and airspace efficiency, as well as reduced delays and improved safety.

This is not a small contract: It is worth about $1.8 billion from 2007 to 2025. ITT Corporation will build the ADS-B ground stations and own and operate the equipment. The FAA will pay subscription charges for ADS-B broadcasts transmitted to properly equipped aircraft and air traffic control facilities. ITT has assembled an impressive team to fulfill the contract. It includes AT&T, Thales, WSI, SAIC, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Aerospace Engineering, Sunhillo, Comsearch, Mission Critical Solution (MCS) of Tampa, Pragmatics, Washington Consulting Group, Aviation Communications and Surveillance Systems (ACSS), NCR, and L-3 Avionics Systems and Sandia Aerospace.