Leonardo to Provide Air Traffic Control Systems to Somalia, Sudan

Leonardo has signed two contracts to provide Air Traffic Control (ATC systems) for Somalia and Sudan, the company announced today at the African Air Show 2017 in Accra, Ghana.

The first contract was signed in Montreal with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on behalf of the Federal Government of Somalia. Leonardo, with the support of its local subsidiary Selex ES Technologies Limited (SETL, based in Kenya), will provide a national Area Control Centre (ACC) as well as three tower control centers for three major airports, for a total of 16 operator control positions, along with a VHF radio system and satellite network.

The systems will be operational by mid-2018 and will guarantee the total management and control of the Somali air traffic. The national area control centre will integrate a wide range of products and tools to comply with various operational requirements and Air Traffic Management environments, ranging from large, nation-wide, en-route area control centres to small approach and tower control units.

Leonardo will also provide the Sudan Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) with a nation-wide ADS-B network and will upgrade four secondary radar systems, which SCAA acquired in 2009 from Leonardo and are currently operational in Khartoum, Port Sudan, Dongola and El Obeid.

The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is a surveillance technology in which an aircraft determines its position via satellite navigation and periodically broadcasts it, enabling it to be tracked. Leonardo ground stations receive information about altitude, airspeed, and location derived through GPS from an equipped aircraft.

This allows air traffic controllers use the information to “see” participating aircraft in real time, improving traffic management. The secondary radars will be upgraded to the SIR-S/I model to guarantee unambiguous aircraft identification, improved situational awareness and safety enhancements, with embedded ADS-B functionality in a smaller system that is easier to maintain.

The systems and the upgrade will be commissioned starting mid-2018 Leonardo’s ATC systems are very well known in the African continent having the company supplied radar and systems for Air Trafic management in Ethiopia, Morocco, Senegal, Kenya.