Saab’s New Air Traffic Surveillance Capability Goes Operational In Norway

Saab and Avinor announced that the northern Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS-B) region of the Norway National Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) system is now operational.

The system will enable Avinor to implement a new reduced separation procedure, thereby increasing traffic capacity between the Svalbard archipelago and the mainland.

Avinor, who is responsible for the 45 state-owned airports and air navigation services for civilian and military aviation in Norway, is installing Saab’s WAM surveillance system, which features virtualised central processing and ground stations that are shared between systems. The system features three ADS-B only regions, partly to address areas where WAM is not possible due to site limitations. The Svalbard region provides surveillance to the northernmost permanent community on the earth.

Saab’s new Cooperative Surveillance System (CSS), is ideal for creating a national WAM in Norway, because of the need to phase in different geographical and service regions. It is the flexibility of CSS that allows one region to go into operation while the others are still being built.

“We have worked together with Avinor to set a new standard for cooperative surveillance technology. Bringing this ADS-B region in the extreme north into operation demonstrates the system’s ability to function in harsh conditions, and it’s flexibility in deployment approaches,” says Mike Gerry, head of Saab business area Industrial Products and Services.