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Frequentis Defense, the US Air Force Flight Standards Agency, and the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic partnered to complete three trials of the tower, designed to enhance crew safety, situational awareness, and achieve mission requirements.
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The trials for fixed and deployable variants were completed at three air force and naval air bases where they were assessed to prove their operational feasibility, the company confirmed.
The deployable tower is situated in a military container environment, with Frequentis outlining that it can be rapidly deployed.
The control room enables personnel to work on multiple objectives simultaneously, utilising a range of data from sensors, cameras, and radar to enhance situational awareness.
The tower is expected to have wide-ranging benefits to the US military, a department spokesperson confirmed.
“We think the future is bright for the remote digital tower. We continue to do assessments of this technology; we continue to be impressed with it. We do believe it has benefits, particularly where we don’t have to put the controllers in the tower, keeping them out of harm’s way,” said Ed Wright, executive director, Headquarters US Air Force Flight Standards Agency, US Department of Defense.
The first trial assessed a fixed tower configuration, followed by an expeditionary deployment configuration before trialling whether the digital tower could be used to control an airfield.
“Our partnership with the US DOD and the success of our trials in real-time operations ensures that Frequentis continues to pave the way in defense with our deployable digital tower solution,” Jay Balakirsky, president of Frequentis Defense, outlined.
“We are incredibly proud of our team for completing this first-of-a-kind program. Digital Tower technology is changing the way that air traffic is controlled and will improve the safety, efficiency, and capability of air operations.”
