A network of next-gen ADS-B stations has been installed and tested for DFS in Germany

ERA announced that its team had successfully installed the first round of ground stations of its MSS-5 system as part of the comprehensive project of ADS-B coverage of the German airspace. The customer, Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (DFS – German ANSP), put its trust in ERA once more thanks to a record of several previous deliveries of surface surveillance systems for 10 German airports. 

According to the contract signed in 2022, ERA delivers the network of 16 ADS-B ground stations (GS) of the MSS-5 system, which will be able to monitor almost the entire airspace of the Federal Republic of Germany and thus increase the safety of the congested air traffic routes there.
ERA already installed eight GS in South Germany (from the French border in the east to the Upper Palatine Forest) approved by FAT testing and one stand-alone ADS-B station, placed in the DFS control centre in Langen, which underwent the SAT procedure. Testing proved the compliance of the ERA ADS-B station with the ED-129B standard. The rest of the stations are expected to be SAT tested in Q1/2024 and the installation of seven more stations, located in the east part of Germany (from Leipzig up north to Rügen island), will follow in Q2/2024.

“The fact that the installation of our ADS-B ground stations by ERA went so smoothly is the result of the excellent cooperation between our project teams. We are very satisfied with ERA's work. The initial tests show that the MSS-5 operates with outstanding performance. DFS is proud to have ERA at its side as a reliable and competent partner for the implementation of its ADS-B network,“ stated Maxmilian Menk, DFS.

ERA company has already been respected in Germany as a supplier of multilateration solutions. There are several ERA MLAT surface systems functioning at airports in Germany: : in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Cologne, Braunschweig, Berlin and Langen.

On the MSS-5 system by ERA

MSS-5 is the fifth generation of the Multi-sensor Surveillance System (MSS) tailored for Air Traffic Management combining multilateration and ADS-B technologies (solo ADS-B in this project). The system provides accurate real-time localization, tracking and identification of all objects equipped with transponder: at the airport surface, in TMA and en-route. MSS-5 answers the five main challenges of Air Traffic Surveillance nowadays:  traffic density, deployability, time synchronization, safety and security.

On ADS-B technology
Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology is one of the key elements of contemporary ATM systems globally. The ADS-B system represents a product derivate of MSS-5. ERA provides both, a stand-alone ADS-B station as well as a smart network of ADS-B stations with a single output. ADS-B is also available as an option for any of the ERA multilateration solutions.