Croatia Control Ltd. (CCL) and Saab presented the Advanced – Surface Movement Guidance & Con- trol System (A-SMGCS) today at the World Air Traffic Management Congress in Madrid.
A-SMGCS is a state-of-the-art, technologically advanced solution, enabling traffic surveillance and control functions on the Zagreb Airport maneuvering area.
The contract was awarded to Saab by CCL in January 2017 and the system was produced and im- plemented at the end of 2018. The project is worth 4.4 million euro in total, with 85% of the amount co-financed through the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility funding instrument.
“This technological solution should help us overcome the operational challenges and support the planned traffic growth in a safe and efficient way. With the implementation of A-SMGCS, we have met all current needs of increased traffic, as well as those for future expansions and upgrades at Zagreb Airport,” said Vlado Bagaric, Director General of CCL.
The system is significant in low visibility conditions, which are quite common at Zagreb Airport and during which air traffic controllers rely on the traffic situation displayed via A-SMGCS. Its robust design and high performance figures ensure that aircraft and vehicles are detected in all weather conditions, covering the entire maneuvering area, which was previously not possible.
“Low visibility conditions due to weather make it even more crucial to have reliable technology to ensure safe aircraft movements. Saab’s suite of surveillance and fusion solutions provides effective monitoring for the airport’s operations,” said Mike Gerry, Head of Business Unit ATM at Saab.
“The successful implementation of the Advanced-Surface Movement Guidance & Control System by Croatia Control is a very good example of how the deployment of SESAR solutions can be in- centivised with EU funding support from the Connecting Europe Facility programme. The Action contributes to the Single European Sky by modernising the ATM system. The implemented tech- nology will improve capacity and flight efficiency, enhance safety and consequently lower the environmental impact at Zagreb International Airport” said Andreas Boschen, Head of CEF Depart- ment at INEA.
The system provides surveillance coverage using an array of Saab’s latest generation multilatera- tion sensors and Saab’s SR-3 Surface Movement Radar. A-SMGCS fuses surveillance data from the multilateration sensors and SR-3 to locate and identify all aircraft operating on the airport’s surface. The surveillance data is integrated with the conflict detection and alerting algorithms to provide controllers with advanced visual and auditory warnings of potential runway incursions.
