Thales has been chosen to commence work with Airservices Australia and the Department of Defence on the development of Australia’s OneSKY program, integrating civil and military air traffic control into a single and harmonised ATM system.
Thales has entered into an Advanced Work contract arrangement which is the critical initial step for the delivery of the OneSKY program. This will help enable the delivery of a state of the art system that will bring further improvements to the already safe and efficient movement of millions of passengers in Australia every year.
The system will achieve world’s best practice, incorporating advanced technologies to manage predicted future increases in air traffic volumes. For the first time in global history, one company will provide a truly integrated large-scale single system for civil and defence purposes.
Thales Australia CEO Chris Jenkins said: "This is an essential first step for the delivery of an important piece of national infrastructure that will ensure the continued safe and efficient management of our skies.
"Thales has worked closely with Airservices over many years in delivering the current system, but as that reaches the end of its operational lifecycle we will use our experience to implement new technologies that will make life easier for air traffic controllers and airline operators.
"We are also excited to be working with Defence towards delivering a truly efficient integrated air traffic management system for all Australian airspace users – everyone from fighter pilots to the weekly commuter.
"Additionally, to secure this Advanced Work contract we worked very closely with our partners Frequentis and Boeing Defence Australia, whose extensive military aviation expertise enabled a comprehensive offering ideally suited to local conditions.
"Thales is dedicated to its long-term investment in Australia – building skills and innovating across a wide range of advanced systems for transport, security and defence."
Thales’s highly skilled personnel and world-leading research facilities at its Melbourne centre of air traffic management excellence are backed by the resources of the global Thales group, which recently secured a large scale military air traffic control contract in the UK.
Thales Australia has also delivered the world’s most advanced air traffic control system to Singapore, which became fully operational in 2013.
The Thales TopSky-ATC system is in service in over 130 of the busiest air traffic control centres in the world, making it the most successful air traffic management system for congested airspaces.
Featuring significant levels of automation and sophistication, the technology and operational concepts of the TopSky-ATC system enable quicker landings while enabling outbound traffic to continue on safely without delay, reducing both flight time and emissions.