Air Traffic Control

Mission — Air Traffic Control source

Program Element (PE) 0604633A Air Traffic Control funds continuous efforts in the development of modernized tactical Air Traffic Control (ATC) systems that enable safety of aircraft operations. ATC systems are required to achieve or maintain compliance with civil, military, domestic and international ATC mandates and combat identification requirements. The Tactical Airspace Integration System (TAIS) is the Army's program of record for Airspace Control (AC) and enroute Air Traffic Services (ATS). TAIS provides Airspace Management, planning, and dynamic execution capabilities at all echelons above Brigade, and enroute flight following air traffic services. TAIS is the only Army system with direct interface to the U.S. Air Force Air Operations Center (AOC) Weapon System for submission of the Army's requests for airspace from the Battlefield Coordination Detachment (BCD). Airspace Coordinating Measure Requests (ACMREQs) received from other mission command systems are passed to TAIS for approval or higher coordination. TAIS software supports U.S. Army commanders, airspace users, airspace managers, Army air traffic controllers, Joint organizations, and Unified Action Partners (UAP) by providing digitized, multi-echelon planning and execution of airspace management and Air Traffic Services. TAIS provides AC planning and enhanced AC execution; improved theater, intra-, and inter-Corps/Division Air Traffic Services (ATS) support; effective battlespace synchronization; and direct links to the Theater Air Ground System (TAGS) through interface with the automated airspace planning and communications systems of the Joint Force Air Component Commander (JFACC). TAIS Common Operating Environment (COE) convergence to Integrated Mission Planning and Airspace Control Tools (IMPACT) will provide interoperability with Army Mission Command, Joint, and UAP systems. This will facilitate AC capabilities, enhance situational understanding, reduce risks, and provide more effective Air-Ground Integration to enable Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2), Multi-Domain Operations (MDO), Joint All Domain Operations (JADO), and Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2). IMPACT will be instantiated across Command Post Computing Environment (CE), Mounted CE, and Mobile/Handheld CE and will extend AC services to the tactical edge. TAIS/IMPACT will leverage Air Space Total Awareness for Rapid Tactical Execution (ASTARTE) technology. ASTARTE provides artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms which will allow IMPACT to achieve more rapid synchronization of airspace planning and dynamic execution. This will enable commanders to maximize airspace usage, increase freedom of maneuver in the 3rd dimension, enhance safety and fratricide prevention, and enable seamless integration / deconfliction of fires and aviation operations in highly congested and complex environments during Large Scale Combat Operations (LSCO). The Air Traffic Navigation Integration and Coordination System (ATNAVICS) is a highly mobile Airport Surveillance Radar and Precision Approach Radar system that provides Air Traffic Services at Army airfields and landing sites at Division, Corps, and Echelons above Corps to include services for Joint and Allied aircraft. ATNAVICS integrates capabilities to control aircraft both Outside of the Continental United States and in the Continental United States. ATNAVICS is upgrading the Interrogation Identification Friend-or-Foe (IFF) system to maintain international airspace compatibility, capture flight information through the reception of aircraft self-reporting data broadcasts, and process into an interconnected air picture. This funding supports the Army's Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) initiative to modernize Command and Control (C2) systems.

Mission — Air Traffic Control source

The Tactical Airspace Integration System (TAIS) is the Army's program of record for Airspace Control (AC) and enroute Air Traffic Services (ATS). TAIS provides Airspace Management, planning, and dynamic execution capabilities at all echelons above Brigade, and enroute flight following air traffic services. TAIS is the only Army system with direct interface to the U.S. Air Force Air Operations Center (AOC) Weapon System for submission of the Army's requests for airspace from the Battlefield Coordination Detachment (BCD). Airspace Coordinating Measure Requests (ACMREQs) received from other mission command systems are passed to TAIS for approval or higher coordination. TAIS software supports U.S. Army commanders, airspace users, airspace managers, Army air traffic controllers, Joint organizations, and Unified Action Partners (UAP) by providing digitized, multi-echelon planning and execution of airspace management and Air Traffic Services. TAIS provides AC planning and enhanced AC execution; improved theater, intra-, and inter-Corps/Division Air Traffic Services (ATS) support; effective battlespace synchronization; and direct links to the Theater Air Ground System (TAGS) through interface with the automated airspace planning and communications systems of the Joint Force Air Component Commander (JFACC). Integrated Mission Planning and Airspace Control Tools (IMPACT) is the software convergence product for TAIS AC requirements. IMPACT contributes to four of the Army's six modernization priorities: future vertical lift, long range precision fires, the network, and air and missile defense. IMPACT also directly supports the National Military Strategy Joint force task of integrating capabilities rapidly and Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2). IMPACT is the software convergence of AC and will provide interoperability with Army Mission Command, Joint, and UAP systems. This will facilitate AC capabilities, enhance situational understanding, reduce risks, and provide more effective Air-Ground Integration to enable NGC2, Multi-Domain Operations (MDO), Joint All Domain Operations (JADO), and Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2). IMPACT will be instantiated across Command Post Computing Environment (CE), Mounted CE, and Mobile/Handheld CE and will extend AC services to the tactical edge. Any changes driven by the C2 Pivot and Fix strategy will be assessed in terms of cost, schedule, and performance impacts to product development. The modernized software baseline is following Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) tenants of the Software Acquisition Pathway (SWP) of the Adaptive Acquisition Framework (AAF) to leverage the shift to more Agile acquisition to mirror modern Agile development and delivery. This includes use of Government owned Software Factories and DEVSECOPS processes to ensure that products are tested early and often to mitigate cyber and other vulnerabilities to delivery hardened code from the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) through all successive Minimum Viable Capability Releases (MVCR). IMPACT plans to leverage Air Space Total Awareness for Rapid Tactical Execution (ASTARTE) technology. ASTARTE provides artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms which will allow IMPACT to achieve more rapid synchronization of airspace planning and dynamic execution. This will enable commanders to maximize airspace usage, increase freedom of maneuver in the 3rd dimension, enhance safety and fratricide prevention, and enable seamless integration / deconfliction of fires and aviation operations in highly congested and complex environments during Large Scale Combat Operations (LSCO). Persistent experimentation events like Project Convergence and COCOM sponsored exercises continue to confirm the existence of airspace planning and management challenges that are only increasing in complexity. IMPACT has been part of Project Convergence and Experimental Demonstration Gateway Event (EDGE) events in demonstrating critical mission threads showing a measurable reduction in sensor to shooter timelines.

Accomplishments & Planned Programs (1)