FINAL REPORT - Stakeholders - Ofcom

Operational procedures/requirements for the provision of radar separation are contained
in the Manual of Air Traffic Services (MATS Part 1 (CAP493), Chapter 3 Section 10).
The CAA has a departmental Policy Paper (10) that covers primary and secondary radar
services including the relevant ATSINS and ATSOMS. It gives guidance to its Inspectors.
This paper is in the process of being reviewed and brought up to date and it is planned to
put it in the public domain. No major changes are anticipated as a result of the review.
All the above papers (except Policy Paper 10) are currently in the public domain and can
be downloaded from the CAA website (http://www.caa.co.uk ).
3.2.4.2 ICAO
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is the global organisation responsible
for air navigation. It publishes International Standards and Recommended Practices
(SARPS) for Aeronautical Telecommunication in Annex 10 to the Convention on
International Civil Aviation. This document only makes limited reference to primary radar
in the context of Precision Approach Radar (PAR). This includes standards for the PAR
and the associated Surveillance Radar Element (SRE). These standards are defined
because of the very specific accuracy requirements associated with precision approaches
and do not define standards for conventional en route, approach/TMA and airport surface
movement applications.
3.2.4.3 European
The EUROCONTROL ATM 2000+ strategy generally advises that primary radar shall be
maintained in major terminal areas up to at least 2020. The EUROCONTROL Surveillance
Standard reflects this requirement for primary radar in major terminal areas.
EUROCONTROL also publish generic documents providing specifications for S band
primary radars. Suitably tailored, these can be used by air traffic service providers for
procurement purposes. As a consequence of the European Union Single European Sky
initiative, the EUROCONTROL ATM2000+ strategy is placing emphasis on the need for
improved security and improved civil /military co-ordination. These factors may result in a
review of surveillance radar requirements including primary radar. On the general
question of spectrum management, EUROCONTROL is currently developing a strategic
action plan for improved aeronautical spectrum management across Europe.
EUROCONTROL documents can be accessed on the website
http://www.eurocontrol.int/index1.html.
EUROCAE do not currently provide standards for primary radar but may provide a vehicle
for standardisation work in the future (http://www.eurocae.org).
It has been agreed within the ECAC (European Civil Aviation Conference) that a
framework should be created in order to defend the civil aviation interests in respect of
spectrum management. This integrated approach across Europe may complicate any UK
initiatives in this area.
3.2.4.4 General Points
The supplier and service industries have adopted de facto standards for the operational
performance of primary radar systems – typically the basic operational requirements for
each class of radar outlined in section 3.2.3. However, the detailed algorithms for signal
processing tend to be proprietary in nature. This factor makes it difficult to predict
performance under interference conditions.
On the question of the regulation of the aeronautical frequencies, the CAA, working with
Ofcom and MoD, apply specialist expertise to spectrum management, frequency
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