Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions has received an order to install a digital tower at NATO NAEW&CF E3A Component in Geilenkirchen, Germany. NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen will use the digital tower for live operations during the refurbishment of the current control tower. This is the first order for an operational digital air traffic control tower at a military air base. Delivery will take place in 2020.

NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen has engaged Saab to provide the first digital tower for NATO, which has stringent requirements on availability and security.

“We are proud to be trusted by NATO to deliver an operational digital tower. Saab being selected to install the first air base solution is a huge breakthrough, not only because it’s for NATO, but because it means we’re entering the German as well as the military market. With the equipment, NATO will possess new capabilities, enabled by a digital air traffic control solution,” says Per Ahl, head of Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions.

The digital air traffic control tower is a breakthrough in air traffic control and was introduced during 2015 in Sweden when Örnsköldsvik Airport became the first airport in the world with remote air traffic control. Commissioning of Örnsköldsvik Airport was followed by Sundsvall Timrå Airport in December 2017, and starting in 2019, air traffic control at both Linköping/Saab Airport and Scandinavian Mountains Airport in Sälen will be conducted remotely from Sundsvall. Saab has developed the second generation of digital air traffic control towers, which will be installed at Geilenkirchen.

Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions AB was formed 2016 as a joint venture between Saab and the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration (LFV). By combining LFV’s unique operational experience with Saab’s world-class technical solutions, Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions can manage the entire process from planning and implementation to the administration of air traffic control services. As a provider of both the technology and air traffic control services, the company offers new and sophisticated digital services to airports in Sweden and abroad.