Thales wins Taiwanese radar contract

Thales Australia has announced that it has won a contract to supply two Approach Radar Systems at Kaohsiung and Magong airports.

The systems will help increase safety and air traffic management efficiency, and are based on proven technologies with established track records.

The program will start immediately, and is scheduled for completion by January 2012.

Chris Jenkins, Thales Australia’s Managing Director, said: “This contract once again demonstrates customers’ preference for Thales’s extensive suite of products and full lifecycle support”.

“This mature and reliable technology will deliver considerable benefits to air traffic management in Taiwan, and we look forward to providing further support for our customerover the coming years.”

The contract with Air Navigation & Weather Services (ANWS) in Taiwan will see Thales supply and install one primary STAR 2000 radar and one Mono-pulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (model RSM 970 S) in Kaohsiung. The company will also install an RSM 970 S in Magong.

The RSM 970 S is designed to provide the best response to operation requirements. It ensures the total integrity and availability of the surveillance and communication data provided to air traffic controllers, while providing lower cost of ownership for airport operators around the world.

With more than 200 operational references over 53 countries, the low-cost RSM 970 S stands as the most advanced MSSR/Mode S radar available, giving controllers total support in severe air traffic situations. Its fully digital configuration and redundant architecture provides unequalled detection and operational reliability, making it a highly cost-effective solution.

The STAR 2000 is a primary surveillance radar for approach and extended approach control areas. This S-band solid state radar is designed to deal with dense air traffic situations, and represents another cost-effective solution. With more than 100 systems supplied to over 43 countries, the STAR 2000 fail-safe S-band primary radar stands as one of the best performing solutions for approach surveillance, while providing exceptional levels of availability and maintainability.

Thales has already supplied its Eurocat-X air traffic management system (ATMS), ATS Message Handling System (AMHS), Aeronautical Information Service System (AISS) and various NAVAIDS to Taiwan, and has previously installed the STAR 2000 and RSM 970 S at Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport in 2005.