ERAM Delivered of Lockheed Martin

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) declared it is on budget and ahead of schedule with a system that will increase capacity by enabling air traffic controllers to track more aircraft at high altitudes. Lockheed Martin, contractor for the En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) equipment, delivered the system to the FAA six months ahead of schedule – meeting a major milestone in the FAA’s flight plan.
ERAM will be operationally tested at the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City before deployment at Salt Lake City in 2008. It will then be added to all 20 Air Route Traffic Control Centers and the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City by the end of 2009.
“This software is a huge step toward the next generation of air traffic control,” said Bobby Sturgell, the FAA’s acting administrator. “ERAM is designed to handle performance-based navigation and the most sophisticated aircraft that have just come off the line. It provides better tools for controllers and that is part of what the NextGen system is all about.”
The en route air traffic control computer system is considered the heart, brain, and backbone of the National Airspace System (NAS). ERAM replaces the software for the Host Computer System and its backup. The computer system processes flight radar data, provides communications support, and generates display data to air traffic controllers. It will enable the FAA to increase capacity and improve efficiency in a way that cannot be realized with the current system.
ERAM was designed to support Next Generation air traffic control initiatives. In the future, the system will integrate with satellite-based surveillance and data communication technologies to provide efficiency and safety gains needed to deal with the projected growth in air traffic.
ERAM supports the evolution of the National Airspace System with state-of-the-art technology that improves information security and streamlines air traffic flow at the international borders.
Air traffic control towers, terminal radar approach control facilities, the System Command Center, automated flight service stations, and other organizations such as the Department of Defense and U.S. Customs all connect to and use the information managed by the en route system.
Using ERAM, controllers at 20 FAA air route traffic control centers will be able to track 1,900 aircraft at a time, instead of the current 1,100. The new technology expands coverage beyond facility boundaries, enabling controllers to handle additional traffic more efficiently. To enable that expanded coverage, ERAM is designed to support a greater number of radars – 64 instead of the current 24.
With the new system, controllers will be able to share and coordinate information seamlessly between centers, making the use of three-mile separation – instead of five miles – more practical in the en route area. It also improves flight plan processing and automates hand-offs when planes divert for bad weather, increasing flexibility and efficiency during weather and congestion.

Benefits include:
• ERAM includes an enhanced backup surveillance system providing safety alerts and weather information not available on today’s backup system.
• The En Route Information Display System provides real-time electronic aeronautical information and enables more efficient data management.
• A fully functional backup system precludes the need to restrict operations in the event of a primary failure.
• Increased flexible routing around congestion, weather, and restrictions, and automatic flight coordination, increasing efficiency and capacity.
• A greater number and variety of surveillance sources, improving surveillance.
• An open-system architecture enables the integration of future capabilities.

Government acceptance of ERAM was the result of a team effort that involved about 900 people at Lockheed Martin and the FAA, working in three states and in 11 labs, who ran 90 separate FAA-witnessed tests covering 3,931 requirements. The FAA accepted the system after it exceeded the required pass rate of 90 percent, with a score of 92.9 percent.