The project is concerned with Enhanced Air and Ground Safety Nets. Airborne Collision Avoidance Systems (ACAS) are operational globally and need to be optimised for all airspace and to be compatible with existing systems. The scope of work is extended from that performed within SESAR1 to include Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), General Aviation (GA), rotorcrafts (R) and military operations. Safety nets are not widely advertised as saving lives, however the social benefit to assure safety cannot be measured as they are in relation to events that do not happen, or very rarely. Preventing collision between aircraft is the main purpose of Air Traffic Control and any failures resulting in accidents will have social impact on travelling public and, consequently, economic impact on the industry. The Risk Ratio (i.e. Measure of mid-air incidents with and without safety nets) is a measure of this, although not in absolute financial terms. In addition, accommodating RPAS integration safely is a prerequisite for the development of the RPAS business.
The main objectives of the project are those defined by the Solutions:
PJ11-G1: Improve the Short Term Conflict Alert (STCA) via system support to the Non Transgression Zone (NTZ) safety NET including the use of downlinked aircraft parameters (DAPs); Develop a minimum STCA and NTZ Operational, Safety and Performance Requirements.
PJ11-A1: Validate the introduction of ACAS Xa in Europe. Check that flight crew confidence in the collision avoidance system (and thus a good manual response to the alerts) is maintained; analyse the interaction of ACAS Xa with specific European aircraft features developed in SESAR 1.
PJ11-A2: Contribute to development and evaluate the performance & benefits of ACAS Xu within European operations/airspace; ensure that the ACAS Xu system is compatible with the European definition of Detect And Avoid system/capability.
PJ11-A3: identify the main use cases for ACAS Xo capability within current and future European operations; evaluate the benefits/suitability of the basic ACAS Xo implementation developed by FAA for these European scenarios; evaluate the opportunity in terms of achievable benefits for a tailored ACAS Xo implementation addressing selected use cases and define the relevant technical and operational requirements.
PJ11-A4: evaluate the operational benefits achievable by TSAA+ during mixed equipage encounters; analyse reusability of specific elements introduced in ACAS Xu solution for GA/R/military users.
