Cuba is going to upgrade its air navigation using Russian surveillance systems

Cuban air navigation service provider ECASA will equip  Jose Marti International Airport with innovative surveillance systems wich are designed and produced in Russia. This will let to improve the quality of service and  traffic safety in the approach zone and on the airfield. ECASA delegation arrived in Russia to share experience and study Russian technologies.

"In October 2016 we signed a contract for the supply of  MLAT with surveillance  functions in the terminal area and airport surface of the Havana airport. The manufacturer is RPE CRTS, and the supplier -  VNIIRA-OVD, JSC.” - said Tatiana Makarova, Director General of VNIIRA-OVD, JSC.

According to her, the Cuban provider  conducted a careful selection of manufacturers and  chose Russian equipment, which actually has a number of advantages. These include quality, accurate data, flexibility of integration into the existing infrastructure.

“ECASA currently expands at the airport of Havana system to monitor the movement of aircraft and vehicles on the airfield A-SMGCS 2nd level, this kit purchased Russian MLAT. It is based on multilateration surveillance technology and covers both the airport surface and  a wide area of up to 100 kilometers, providing a complete picture of the activities in the area, updating data by the second.”- said the director of CRTS Andrei Lantiev.

The crucial advantage of MLAT is its ability to inform the controller under poor visibility conditions and increased traffic density. In the terminal area the system warns of incursions on the runway and any other possible conflict.

The equipment project is realized by the  Research and Production Enterprise Digital Radio Systems in cooperation with VNIIRA-OVD JCSC.

“Previously, in cooperation with  ECASA  we have successfully concluded factory testing of the supplied equipment, and taught our Cuban colleagues how to operate the system.  At the end of the lectures, there was issued a certificate of competence required for use of the equipment.” - A.Lantev explained.

Talking about the future plans, Tatiana Makarova clarified that the partnership between the two countries ‘is tested by time and is only gaining strength over the years’.

For example,  project of implementing the wide MLAT covering all the national airspace of the Republic of Cuba  is currently being developed.  RPE "CRTS" will manage this project, so in two years  12 Cuban airports will be equipped with the latest multi-positioning surveillance systems for air traffic control.

RPE "Digital radio systems" - an expert in the field of multilateration technology, automatic dependent surveillance radar and air traffic control. Equipment of this company is implemented in all types of airports in the CIS countries and abroad.