FINAL REPORT - Stakeholders - Ofcom

Airport
GNSS
Marker
Beacon
ILS
MLS
Operational benefits as
a single system for all
phases of flight.
Recent studies show
that marker beacons
are becoming
redundant. Co-located
DME is by far the
better solution.
ILS is a standardised
fully deployed system.
May be a move to MLS
on the basis of safety
or operational need at
high capacity airports.
Slow take-up of MLS
may free up spectrum
for other uses (GNS,
AMSS) locally.
Critical to protect
GNSS spectrum
allocations, as it will
become the primary
navigation means for
the foreseeable
future.
Freeing up of
radiolocation beacon
allocation (75 MHz
channel).
Must protect ILS
allocations for the
foreseeable future.
There may be an
issue with frequency
planning of MLS [ref
NATS comments]
As more users move
over to GNSS, more
bands will be used
(L5, E5).
Decommissioned as
life-time ends –
availability of
spectrum therefore
depends on life-time
of beacons.
Cost vs. benefit of
MLS system is
prohibitive.
Table 3-12: Operational requirements for each navigation means
3.4.5 Regulatory and Standardisation Issues
3.4.5.1 Loran-C
There are no ICAO or European standards available for Loran-C.
MLS emerging where
there is business
need.
UK MoD has
requirements for 50
MLS systems. If MLS
is shown to be safer
than ILS, a mandate
may be passed in the
future.
3.4.5.2 NDB
Varying strategies exist for the longevity of NDBs in Europe. ICAO wishes to safeguard
allocations until at least 2015, and EUROCONTROL’s navigation strategy includes this in
their considerations. However, EUROCONTROL has decided to actively decommission
NDBs for aviation use; NDBs cannot support RNAV operations due to their relatively low
accuracy and therefore, they have no role for civil aviation. GPS should replace the
function of NDBs for GA; how fast this occurs depends on the ability of GA to upgrade to
GPS (at a higher cost).
Interference from weather (lightning, precipitation) or night-time effects (increased
interference from distant stations) reduce the efficiency of NDBs – in addition, the lower
part of the band is subject to significant interference from broadcasting (and is therefore
unusable for aviation). Regulation will not be implemented to alter this situation.
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