Lockheed Martin, ARINC Form Team to Compete for U.S. Air Force Rapid Deployment Air Traffic Control System

The system, designed for the Air Force's Deployable Radar Approach Control program, or DRAPCON, will provide regional coverage and aircraft separation, similar to a typical civilian airport, on-demand through a transportable surveillance radar and air traffic control operations shelter.

Lockheed Martin will serve as the prime contractor and will provide a version of its field-proven TPS-79 tactical surveillance radar, as well as Federal Aviation Administration-certified air traffic management software.

"As long-term leaders in the aviation industry, Lockheed Martin and ARINC specifically bring more than 50 years of tactical radar and air traffic control innovation to this project," said Paul Goulette, director of Lockheed Martin air traffic control radar systems. "And every day across the globe, 60 percent of the world's commercial air traffic and more than 80 percent of oceanic air space is monitored and controlled by Lockheed Martin air traffic control systems."

A leader in transportation communications and air traffic control operations, ARINC will provide the transportable operations shelter.

"ARINC's strength is the delivery of robust communications solutions, underpinned by the right combination of people, processes and technology," said Rivers Cleveland, director, ARINC C2 Systems & Services. "From the earliest air-ground networks to today's deployable military systems, ARINC solutions have consistently advanced the safety and effectiveness of air traffic control."