NASA awards $2.2 million contract for secondary surveillance radar at Wallops flight center
NewsNovember 29, 2018
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. Telephonics Corp. has won a $2.2 million contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to replace and upgrade the agency?s existing Airport Surveillance Radar-8 (ASR-8) Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) systems at its Wallops Island Flight Center in Virginia.
Under the terms of the award, Telephonics -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of Griffon Corp. (New York City) -- will upgrade or replace the Wallops facility's dual All-Mode, AIMS certified, AN/UPX-44 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) interrogator, Passive Detection and Reporting System (PDRS), and Common Terminal Digitizer (CTD).
NASA seeks to replace its existing IFF interrogator system with technology that preserves current capabilities and expands on supported modes, which will now include Mode 5, Mode S, and full-range Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). The CTD, which is undergoing installation at all 34 existing ASR-8 radar sites currently usedin the national airspace, will improve radar performance by enhancing digital weather processing, improving small target detection, and extending service life.
The Telephonics installation work is expected to be completed by late 2019.
