The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is using novel radar technology from Cambridge business, Aveillant.
It has awarded a contract to the company to demonstrate the ability of its Holographic RadarTM technology to provide a spectrum-efficient alternative to S-band primary air traffic surveillance radar.
The UK government aspires to release 500 MHz of public spectrum by 2020 and has tasked the CAA with investigating the viability of options to release bandwidth in the current air traffic radar spectrum allocation in the ‘S Band’ between 2.7 and 2.9 GHz.
The CAA is investigating two options: to change and reduce the spectrum occupied by existing aerodrome radars, and to exploit new, spectrum efficient solutions that have potential to provide additional benefits to aviation.