Era Corporation Selected to Provide Multilateration and ADS-B Surveillance System for Johannesburg International Airport

ATNS (Air Traffic & Navigation Services) has selected Era Corporation to provide O.R. Tambo International Airport (formerly Johannesburg International Airport) with its MSS multilateration and ADS-B surveillance system and Squid vehicle tracking units. The system will be integrated with the A-SMGCS supplied by Siemens Limited, Industrial Solutions and Services and their major sub-contractor, Park Air Systems, to provide surface surveillance for the airport.

O.R. Tambo International Airport, Africa's busiest, has begun renovations in order to support growing passenger demand and the increased operations required for the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg. In the coming years, the airport will be improving the airside maneuvering area and adding a new midfield terminal. Surface Movement Radar alone was not a sufficient option for the airport's surface surveillance needs as many areas around the airport would remain "unseen," especially with the new construction.

"We evaluated surveillance solutions and concluded multilateration provided the best surface coverage and the flexibility to accommodate our future growth," said Peter Marais, Executive Manager ATM/CNS Planning for ATNS. "After a competitive evaluation, Era was chosen by Siemens for its leading technology and proven delivery capabilities supported by an extensive list of worldwide references."

Due to its scalable design, multilateration allows for surveillance of the entire airport's surface, leaving no corners unseen. Era's solution is more accurate, updates faster and is much more cost-effective when compared to traditional surface radars. As well, Squid by Era further enhances surveillance by tracking vehicles operating around the airport and allows a single view of all aircraft and vehicles on the airport surface.

"ANSPs around the globe are beginning to realize the future-proof benefits, in terms of both technology and infrastructure growth, that our surveillance systems can provide to their airports," said Russell Hulstrom, VP of Worldwide Sales at Era. "The selection at O.R. Tambo continues the strong demand for Era systems in the region and we are excited to extend our work with ATNS in Africa."

Era already has a pilot surveillance system installed at Cape Town International Airport for wide area and surface surveillance. ATNS has recently decided to extend the system's capabilities with additional sensors. The newly expanded system will have coverage extending to roughly 225 nautical miles from the airport.

For more information about the new era in surveillance, visit www.erabeyondradar.com.

About Era

Era Corporation is a pioneer and leading supplier of next-generation surveillance and flight tracking solutions for the air traffic control, military, homeland security and airport operations markets. With proven multilateration and ADS-B technologies delivering high performance, high reliability surveillance solutions, the company has over 100 commercial, air traffic control and military customers throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America and Asia. Era's investment in research and development and its track record of product innovation has resulted in a substantial patent portfolio. Era is headquartered in Reston, Virginia with leading product research and development centers of excellence in the U.S. and Czech Republic.

For more information, please visit www.erabeyondradar.com.