ARTAS Goes Multilateration

The German ATC specialist COMSOFT has been awarded the contract for the integration of Wide Area Multilateration and ADS-C into ARTAS, the European tracker system developed by EUROCONTROL.

KARLSRUHE, GERMANY, September 2007 – ARTAS, the European ATM Surveillance Tracker and Server, is undergoing major development. Following an international Call for Tender, EUROCONTROL has selected the German ATC supplier COMSOFT for the integration of WAM and ADS-C into ARTAS, based on the company's unmatched experience in European surveillance and ARTAS technology. Furthermore, COMSOFT has ADS and MLAT sensor technology in their own product portfolio and can therefore draw back on strongly needed know-how for the ARTAS upgrade to the new V8 version.

This next-generation ARTAS will cater for the increasing needs of the Air Navigation Service Providers: Firstly, ARTAS will make use of data from Multilateration systems to further improve the tracking which is currently based on conventional radar and ADS-B data. Secondly, by integrating ADS-C as a means of surveillance beyond radar coverage, ARTAS will be enabled to provide a complementary Air Situation Picture for oceanic areas and areas without radar coverage. The ARTAS tracker will fuse WAM and ADS-C data with data from other sensors like radars or ADS-B, thus optimising surveillance performance, reliability and continuity.

Particularly the integration of MLAT data is being seen as of highest importance and urgency for many European administrations, many of which already have the corresponding sensor infrastructure installed and can substantially benefit from an MLAT-augmented ARTAS service.
Over the last six years, more and more European Air Navigation Service Providers have embarked on the employment of ARTAS. Today, the tracker is being used by close to 30 civil and military administrations at more than 50 sites. On behalf of EUROCONTROL, COMSOFT is also operating the CAMOS service, an overall maintenance service for member states. Furthermore, the company offers high-quality services such as installation, integration, training and tuning of ARTAS.