Leidos selects Rohde & Schwarz full IP VCS for the FAA Future Flight Services Program
Through the Future Flight Services Program (FFSP), the U. S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aims to transform and modernize the delivery of flight briefing services by reducing program costs, providing technology enhancements, and by engaging the broader general aviation community, while still maintaining quality of service and safety. Leidos Innovation Corp. was awarded a follow-on prime contract by the FAA to continue serving the general aviation community under the FFSP. Leidos in turn awarded Rohde & Schwarz USA, Inc. a contract to provide the voice communications system (VCS) as the new central communication platform for this program.
The customer will deploy Rohde & Schwarz’ R&S VCS-4G, comprised of two geographically separated systems plus a lab/test system with a total of 200 Controller Working Positions (CWPs). This redundant modular system allows Flight Service Specialists at the two Flight Service Data Centers in Ashburn, VA and Ft. Worth, TX to handle flight service calls from anywhere in the continental US and Caribbean. It will allow for load sharing between both service centers during periods of heavy traffic and consolidation of services to one service center during periods of light traffic.
For the specific requirements of FAA’s Future Flight Services Program, the existing R&S VCS-4G technology which has a proven track record in the market for more than 10 years, will be enhanced by additional functionalities to allow the Leidos Flight Service Specialist to access several hundred frequencies nationwide from a single CWP as well as to benefit from an automated routing facility for incoming calls.
“We strongly believe that Rohde & Schwarz has the organizational and technological capabilities to meet our very unique requirements and we look forward to working together in order to have the system in service in 2022,” Leidos Civil Group Senior Vice President Fran Hill said.
“Rohde & Schwarz respectfully welcomes this contract award in the United States, having a long-standing company experience in deploying full IP voice communication systems in various complex environments elsewhere in the world.,” Frank Dunn, President of Rohde & Schwarz USA, Inc. and Rohde & Schwarz Canada, Inc., said. “We will support Leidos in implementing and operating the overall system, by reducing system life cycle costs, improving systems readiness, and identifying system life cycle logistics resource requirements.”
R&S VCS-4G is a full IP solution, contracted for more than 280 systems in 60 countries worldwide, including airports/towers, Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC), virtual centers, remote towers, offshore drilling sites, mobile towers, and shelters. The technology implements the EUROCAE ED-137 standard to the core of the system and not just to periphery components, it is the world’s first and most widely deployed full IP VCS system.