| In
the early hours of this morning one of the
world's largest and most advanced air traffic
management systems began controlling air traffic
over England and Wales. Today's operational
deployment of the National Air Traffic Services
(NATS) Swanwick Centre system, developed and
integrated by Lockheed Martin, followed the
successful completion of extensive training and
an exacting safety testing in one of the world's
most demanding airspace management environments.
The Swanwick Centre will provide over time a
substantial increase in capacity to the previous
system based at West Drayton, positioning NATS
to meet the complex demands of UK air traffic
management for many years to come. The new
system supports 360 air traffic controllers,
responsible for tracking 6,000 flights a day.
"Today's milestone marks a significant
achievement for both NATS and Lockheed Martin
given the complexity of the system and the
unparalleled scale of the transition from West
Drayton," said Don Antonucci, president of
Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management. "It
represents the culmination of very hard and
innovative work over many years by our NATS
partners, Lockheed Martin employees, and our
teammates."
Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management has
played a key role in the team that made the new
Swanwick facility a reality. Since 1996 when
Lockheed Martin took over the performance
responsibility for the Swanwick Centre contract,
the project has met every milestone on schedule
and on budget, including today's deployment into
operational service.
Swanwick follows the operational deployment
in November 2001 of a new radar data processing
and display system at NATS’ Scottish Centre in
Prestwick, Scotland. The Scottish Centre
supports both civil and military air traffic
movements in Scotland and features a tailored
version of Lockheed Martin’s SkyLine® system.
The Prestwick system provides a proven, low-risk
approach to air traffic management and a solid
basis for growth as the new centre at Prestwick
is developed.
"We are extremely proud that we have been
able work together with our National Air Traffic
Services customer and our subcontractor team to
bring the Swanwick facility into operation and
upgrade the Radar system at the current
Prestwick facility," Paul Barratt, director, UK
Programmes, Lockheed Martin Air Traffic
Management said. "We now look forward to playing
a significant role in helping NATS sustain and
enhance the systems in the years ahead."
Ian Stopps, Chief Executive Officer of
Lockheed Martin UK, added, “ The Swanwick Centre
project is another demonstration of Lockheed
Martin’s ability to lead complex systems
integration projects and to form successful
partnerships with our customers."
***
Based in Rockville, Maryland, USA, Lockheed
Martin Air Traffic Management has four decades'
experience in delivering advanced air traffic
management solutions to customers worldwide and
focuses on systems integration, engineering
design, development, test, delivery and support
of Communications, Navigation, Surveillance
(CNS/ATM) systems. The company employs
approximately 1,300 people at major facilities
in Rockville, Maryland, Atlantic City, New
Jersey, Eagan, Minnesota, and Southampton,
England.
Contact:
Christopher Trippick, Tel: +44 (023) 9244
3739
chris.trippick@lmco.com |
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