NATS Selects Sensis Multilateration for Surface Surveillance at London Stansted

NATS (formerly National Air Traffic Services), the UK's major air navigation service provider, has selected Sensis Multistatic Dependent Surveillance (MDS) for ground surveillance at London Stansted Airport. Sensis MDS will provide full coverage of the airport's runway, taxiway and stand areas to enhance the safe and efficient movement of aircraft on the ground. NATS has selected Sensis MDS for ground surveillance as a result of its successful performance at London Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

"The selection of Sensis MDS for Stansted was based on the many benefits we're experiencing at Heathrow and Gatwick with the same technology," said Alistair Clark , NATS Program Manager. "Stansted is a single-runway airport that requires the runway to be in operation in all weather conditions. MDS helps achieve this goal by providing accurate surveillance no matter the weather."

Sensis MDS uses multiple low-maintenance, non-rotating sensors to triangulate aircraft location based on transponder signals and provide air traffic controllers with precise aircraft position and identification information regardless of weather conditions. With a higher update rate and greater positional accuracy than traditional radar, Sensis MDS provides consistent, accurate surveillance. Due to advanced processing techniques, an MDS system uses the minimal number of sensors for a less complex, lower lifecycle cost solution. Additionally, every MDS sensor deployed by Sensis also supports Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B).

"Sensis MDS architecture has the flexibility to easily accommodate future growth," said Tony Lo Brutto , vice president and general manager of Sensis Air Traffic Systems. "Each ground station can also efficiently transition to, and serve as a back-up system to ADS-B with no equipment modifications."

Sensis multilateration is the most field-proven system in the industry, with approximately 100 sites worldwide using the technology.