AFFSA accomplishes first Tactical JPALS testing

Published Dec. 3, 2007
By Maj. Martin Towey
Air Force Flight Standards Agency Headquarters

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- The Air Force Flight Standards Agency was involved in the first flight testing of a Tactical Approach system during the last week of October at the FAA Technical center in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
   Similar to the civilian Local Area Augmentation System, Joint Precision Approach and Landing System uses corrected GPS information to guide an aircraft to its intended point of landing. The tactical system evaluated in this test can provide guidance similar to the legacy Instrument Landing System that is currently in use around the world at every major airport.
   However, unlike the ILS, it can be transported in two backpacks and setup in under 30 minutes.
   Additionally it is not limited to a long and predicable straight in approach where the aircraft flies down a radio beam. Instead, curves and intermediate level-offs can be incorporated to both avoid terrain and be tactically deceptive to a potential enemy. It can be setup miles away and transmit approaches to several different landing sites affording the maximum in flexibility to both planners and aircrew for airdrop, assault landings, as well as low weather precision landings at the home station.
   With its new home at the FAA's Mike Monroney Center at Will Rogers World Airport, AFFSA operates two NC-21A aircraft to support such programs. Based on the Air Force C-21A the primary mission of these two aircraft is evaluating new technologies and assisting with their design and implementation for the Department of Defense.
   For JPALS testing, AFFSA incorporated a small palette of avionics in less than three weeks from concept to first flight for little to no cost and evaluated the potential this new approach system brings to the warfighter. Providing these inputs to engineering during six flights over three days provided invaluable insight as to the operators' needs and allowed for tailoring of the system for the aircrew from the start.
   The second NC-21A is undergoing a major avionics retrofit to provide a comprehensive integration of the latest available technologies including synthetic and enhanced vision systems, WAAS, and programmable displays. It is already scheduled to participate in several programs such as the FAA's SmarTopo, a test where flight inspection aircraft will autonomously search for and verify obstructions while conducting their normal mission of approach certification.
   SmarTopo will use this verification to update the national obstruction database and enable the lowering of approach minimums for all users of the National Airspace system allowing aircraft to land in worse weather conditions than currently allowed.
   Lt. Col. Joel Dickinson, and Majs. Joseph Trevisani and Martin Towey provided their perspective from every aspect of the mobility fleet including Tactical Airlift, Tanker, and VIP transport to the JPALS engineers. Additionally with fighter and rotor wing aircraft operators AFFSA is able to provide input from every aspect of DoD flying. With this personal interface before and after each test the engineers are better able to understand the needs of the aircrew and incorporate them early on in the design ensuring maximum utilization of the technology.
   AFFSA will be involved with this type of operational test and development for the foreseeable future with the objective of maximizing JPALS potential at a minimal cost.