Kelvin Hughes, a world leader in the design and manufacture of navigation and surveillance systems, has been certified by the Military Aviation Authority as an RA1027 Air Traffic Management (ATM) equipment organisation, approved to design, manufacture and provide ATM equipment. The certification was awarded following successful use of the company’s SharpEye™ solid state radar to control helicopter landings on naval vessels.
SharpEye™ replaces the need for a transponder system known as a Reply Receiver Type B (RRB). Typically, the Helicopter and the ship’s RRB system have to interact to provide a means of tracking. With SharpEye™ however, the ship’s Operations Room can confidently and accurately manage the air space and talk each helicopter into land on the ship without the need for a secondary radar like RRB.
One of the key characteristics of SharpEye™ is its high performance in bad weather and low visibility resulting from its ability to remove rain and sea clutter, leaving targets of interest clearly shown on the screen. The ESM signature of SharpEye™ is also greatly reduced compared to that of a transponder system. In addition, and unlike other ship navigation radars, SharpEye™ is capable of tracking aerial targets flying over land.
All of these features have proved to be of immense benefit in recent months, during which time a SharpEye™ system has been used intensively on board RFA Argus, operating off the west coast of Africa as part of the UK’s contribution to fighting the Ebola outbreak.
Kelvin Hughes’ Sales and Marketing Director, Spike Hughes, commented:
“Being certified as an ATM equipment organisation is excellent news for us and will undoubtedly help us when promoting our systems to the world’s navies. It is also highly gratifying to receive the certification as a result of the excellent performance of a SharpEye™ system in helping the RFA Argus and its crew to carry out such an important humanitarian role”.
