Posted by John McHale
PARIS, 22 June 2011. Officials at ACSS completed a DO-260B (TSO c166b) flight test for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials to demonstrate the company's XS-950 Mode S transponder's compliance with the FAA's Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) mandate for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).
The FAA's DO-260B flight test was performed on a Boeing 767 operated by UPS. Other operators to first be equipped with the enhanced DO-260B transponders will be JetBlue and US Airways. DO-260B installation models include Airbus A320s and A330s, as well as Boeing 747s, 757s, 767s and MD-11s operated by the three carriers. ACSS officials say their STC submittal, which happens later this summer, will make them the first avionics supplier to have DO-260B capability within its product line.
ADS-B increases capacity and throughput for domestic air transport and provides more precise position information of own-ship and other airplane traffic to the cockpit. ACSS's upgrade to DO-260B for the company's XS-950 transponder also enhances their SafeRoute ADS-B In applications. These include Surface Area Movement Management (SAMM), Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI), In-Trail Procedures (ITP), Assisted Visual Separation (CAVS) ,and Merging & Spacing.
ACSS demonstrated new SafeRoute capabilities, such as Surface Indicating & Alerting (SURF IA), as part of an FAA program with US Airways. ACSS is also participating in Eurocontrol's CASCADE program to implement ITP in non-radar coverage areas. British Airways, Delta, and US Airways are working with ACSS on this initiative with trials scheduled to start before the end of 2011.
Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems (ACSS) is 70 percent owned by L-3 Communications and 30 percent owned by Thales.
