CNS/ATM Working Group to focus on emerging civil mandates, impact on military aircraft

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Noraliz Rodriguez-Alicea
  • CNS/ATM Center of Excellence

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – The Communications, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management Center of Excellence will look toward the next decade of civil mandates and technologies at its upcoming 2019 CNS/ATM Working Group.

This year's event will be held June 4-5 at the Holiday Inn Dayton/Fairborn near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. On June 6, the Hanscom-based team will conduct government-only one-on-one sessions with platform program offices to discuss aircraft-specific CNS/ATM challenges they are facing. Registration is free for all attendees; sign up by May 3.

CNS/ATM is a combination of aircraft communications, navigation and surveillance capabilities designed to improve air traffic management, reduce crew workload and improve flight safety while more efficiently utilizing civil airspace. The center is embedded in the Aerospace Management Systems Division here at Hanscom AFB, with key personnel and liaisons in Dayton, Oklahoma City and Washington, D.C.

“This is the Center of Excellence’s flagship event, and is the premier forum within the Department of Defense to exchange information across the services and externally with industry partners to continuously develop CNS/ATM requirements,” said Col. Riley Pyles, Aerospace Management Systems Division senior materiel leader.

The thrust of the working group is to ensure military aircraft platforms meet on-board avionics standards driven by the International Civil Aviation Organization, Federal Aviation Administration and other civil aviation authorities. This is accomplished by promoting civil CNS/ATM requirements, sharing expertise and improving DoD processes, capabilities, services and resources to better support evolving civil technologies and mandates, according to Pyles.

“Conformance with these standards ensures military aircraft are able to safely and efficiently operate in airspace where new architectures and air traffic management procedures have been implemented,” he said.

The event’s “Flight into the Next Decade” theme will focus on the next wave of emerging civil mandates, cybersecurity and unmanned airborne systems’ integration into airspace. It will also include updates on policy, current CNS/ATM Center of Excellence initiatives and shaping requirements for the follow-on CNS/ATM catalog contract.

Updates will be provided by the Air Force, Navy and Army, as well as presentations by experts in several areas, including: navigation data; datalink communications; avionics cyber considerations; Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum; Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B, mandates’ impact on DoD operations; NATO military-civil CNS/ATM efforts in Europe; electronic flight bags and many other topics of interest.

For more information or to learn how to register, contact the CNS/ATM Center of Excellence at AFLCMC.HBAG.CNS-ATMPLANNING@us.af.mil.

(Editor's note: Deborah L. Powers, 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs, contributed to this story.)