RI&S upgrades the FAA’s space-based precision navigation system to support safer air travel
MARLBOROUGH, Mass., September 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a Raytheon Technologies company RTXwas awarded a competitive indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract with a maximum value of $375 million in the next 10 years. Commission orders, valued at $215 millionwere performed at contract award to provide technical refresh and dual frequency operation (DFO) upgrades for the FAA’s Wide-Area Augmentation System (WAAS), a space-based precision navigation system that will make air travel safer in support of the national airspace system.
As part of the WAAS DFO-2 contract, RI&S will deliver more modern and therefore more sustainable processing, system security and network architecture while adding a dual-frequency service.
“There is no margin for error during takeoff, flight or landing,” he said Denis Donohue, President, Monitoring and Network Systems at RI&S. “Our modernization efforts for WAAS will improve system robustness to ionospheric events and ensure safety requirements continue to be met.”
WAAS is a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) that provides critical navigation GPS corrections to the aviation community, first responders and other government agencies to ensure pilots can land safely in harsh environments despite weather conditions. It also provides corrections for SBAS-enabled receivers used in a variety of communities including agriculture, marine, and surveying, among others.
Raytheon Technologies has been the prime contractor for the development of WAAS since 1996. Since achieving initial operational capability in 2003, Raytheon Technologies and the FAA have developed and deployed dozens of improvements that expand the precision approach capability, coverage area and reliability of WAAS, including system infrastructure improvements in preparation for dual…
