CNS requirements for precision flight in advanced terminal airspace

The capacity of the United States' National Airspace System (NAS) must double to handle the passenger demands that are projected over the next 25 years. NASA initiated the Virtual Airspace Modeling and Simulation (VAMS) Project in 2002 with participants, including members from industry, government, and academia to develop and share ideas on revolutionary concepts to meet the future demand. 12 The constraints in the Terminal Area domain are the focus of Raytheon's VAMS concept, Terminal Area Capacity Enhancement Concept (TACEC). TACEC envisions a high level of automation and synchronization, generating optimized 4D flight profiles to land/depart multiple aircraft "simultaneously" on closely spaced parallel runways. Implementation requires infrastructure improvements such as highly automated guidance and scheduling systems, timely data link, improved surveillance, and improved on-board navigation systems. This paper discusses the guidance and scheduling systems required to pair the aircraft for simultaneous landing. Performance required by the autopilot/navigation system to maintain control necessary for formation flight onto closely spaced parallel runways, data link and surveillance requirements are also addressed.