Northrop Grumman’s European air traffic management systems subsidiary, Northrop Grumman Park Air Systems, was selected to supply an area coverage system for air traffic control radio communications in the East Shetland oil-producing region of the North Sea.
The system was implemented in collaboration with NATS, the U.K. air traffic management services provider. The new system uses an IP network that interlinks Park Air T6 radio installations on three production facilities with the NATS Aberdeen control center, for the delivery of air traffic control voice services to helicopter flights in East Shetland.
Park Air’s system enables both voice and remote control data exchange over the implemented IP wide area network, in accordance with the international ED-137 standard, the global standard for voice over internet protocol for air traffic management.
"Working together with NATS, we have been able to overcome many challenges that were posed by implementing this new technology in a hostile environment," said Charles Houseago, managing director of Northrop Grumman Park Air Systems. "IP-based networks will rapidly become standardized for air traffic control communications and I’m proud that our company is at the forefront of realising the potential of this technology."