Thales to install surveillance radar and air traffic control equipment at Turkmenistan's Ashgabat Airport
NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, France, 25 March 2012.Air traffic control (ATC) experts at the Thales Group in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, are installing an air traffic management (ATM) system at Ashgabat Airport -- one of two international airports in Turkmenistan -- under terms of a contract awarded to Thales by the TURKMENHOWAYOLLARY State Civil Aviation Department (SCAD) in Turkmenistan.
Thales will build and install the company's latest-generation TopSky ATM system and the STAR 2000 S-band primary airport surveillance radar co-mounted with a secondary RSM970S mode S radar at Turkmenistan's Ashgabat Airport. The TopSky equipment will control aircraft operating at Ashgabat Airport through departure, en-route, and approach phases, Thales officials say. No dollar amount of the contract was released.
Thales engineers also will integrated communications, navigation and surveillance (CNS) equipment at Ashgabat Airport, as well as provide operator training, in an effort to modernize the airport's existing navigation, surveillance, and ATM capabilities.
The STAR 2000 is a primary surveillance radar for approach and extended approach control area. The radar system has a range of 60 to 100 nautical miles, solid-state design, and can be installed with multimode surveillance capability such as ADS-B or multilateration.
Ashgabat Airport is about six miles northwest of the Turkmenistan capital Ashgabat. The airport has an air traffic control tower and three runways, including 12L/30R, which is a 12,467-foot precision-approach runway -- slightly longer than the longest runway at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta.
Ashgabat's other two runways are the 5,907-foot 11/29, and the 9,806-foot 12R/30L. All runways are paved, but the shortest runway, 11/29, is not lighted.
Thales introduces TopSky ATM equipment this month, which is new branding for all Thales Eurocat, Simcat, Flowcat, aeronautical information management and integrated tower products. This change of name reflects a 10-year vision of Thales executives for their company's automation equipment.
For more information contact the Thales Group Aerospace segment online at www.thalesgroup.com/aerospace.
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John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
