FINAL REPORT - Stakeholders - Ofcom

1.2 Summary of recommendations
1.2.1 Aeronautical Radiodetermination
1.2.1.1 Ground Based Primary Radar
The recommendations arising from consideration of the primary radar technical,
regulatory and socio-economic constraints have been grouped into the following
categories:
• Specific measures to release spectrum;
• General improvements of spectral characteristics of primary radar;
• Band sharing.
The recommendations take into account the following key issues:
• Spectrum planning must take account of the continuing operational requirement
for primary radar for en route, approach/TMA and airport surface detection. No
fundamental changes have been identified in the operational requirement which
would reduce spectrum requirements.
• Technology choice is driven primarily by the need to satisfy the operational
requirement.
• Spectrum planning will need to take into account some increase in potential
demand for civil ATC primary radar services, particularly for approach/TMA
facilities and surface movement radar. This is expected to grow in line with the
general expansion in air transport and may be further influenced by security
requirements.
• There may be a requirement for reduced false alarm rates which needs to be
taken into consideration in the determination of radar protection criteria and band
sharing opportunities.
It is not clear that there is any viable technology to replace primary radar – certainly not in
the short term. In the absence of suitable alternative technologies, pricing would not
provide any incentive to move away from primary radar.
It should be noted that a number of the specific recommendations have already been
implemented or planned by service providers. In particular, the use of solid state systems
with pulse compression is becoming more widely adopted.
Specific Measures to Release Spectrum
Recommendation 3.1: Ofcom in association with the CAA may wish to consider whether
it is feasible to replace the UHF Primary radars in Channel 36 in favour of S band or L
band equipment. It is necessary to review the review the operational requirement for
these systems and the appropriate timescale for replacement with the relevant operating
authorities. It could be implemented as part of the normal equipment replacement cycle.
Recommendation 3.2: The possibility of moving surface movement radars currently in
Ku Band to X band should be considered thereby releasing Ku band for other
applications. The cost of this is estimated at around £9m (project costs). The amount of
spectrum released needs to be confirmed with the MoD. It could be implemented as part
of the normal equipment replacement cycle.
Recommendation 3.3: In the longer term, alternative systems with the potential to
release spectrum should be further evaluated and developed.
Page 12