Center for
Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) Federal
Aviation Administration FFRDC
Overview
MITRE has helped the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) address the
nation's most critical aviation issues since the company's
creation in 1958. In recognition of this long and fruitful relationship,
the FAA designated MITRE's aviation program as a Federally Funded
Research and Development Center in 1990 and named the new entity the Center
for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD). In addition to supporting
the FAA, CAASD works with civil aviation authorities around the world,
all of which face similar challenges. This enables us to increase our
knowledge of best practices in aviation and share them with all our customers.
Challenges
A few of the challenges we are helping customers address include:
- Improving aviation safety and security
- Increasing the capacity and efficiency of the national airspace
- Enhancing flexibility in the use of aviation system resources
- Reducing flight delays and traffic management constraints
- Establishing collaborative decision-making to improve traffic flow
planning
- Developing broadcast services to improve safety in areas with little
radar and to enhance airport capacity in marginal weather conditions
- Modernizing and harmonizing global aviation systems to enable "Free
Flight"
- Developing and maintaining consensus among all aviation system stakeholders
on schedules and capabilities of future systems
- Developing improved coordination processes and Shared Situational Awareness (SSA) among agencies in response to aviation security threats
- Developing the aviation passenger prescreening system that prevents potential terrorists to board commercial flights while ensuring the privacy and civil liberties of US citizens
Customers
CAASD primarily supports the FAA, but also works with more than 20 aviation
organizations around the world—in Europe, Asia, South America, and
North America.
Competencies
CAASD is committed to continually maintaining and advancing its core
competencies, which include:
- Air traffic management systems analysis and modeling
- Air traffic management systems engineering and capability development
- Air traffic management systems evolution planning
- Air traffic management procedures and training
- Airspace analysis and design
- Arrival and departure route development
- System performance analysis and trends
- Collaborative decision making in traffic flow management
- Broadcast technologies and collision avoidance systems
- Required navigational performance
- Communications, navigation, and surveillance systems
- Airport planning and operations
- Information security
- Information technology
- Air traffic management system infrastructure development and management
- Research and development
- Transportation security
Outcomes
CAASD works to build and maintain the necessary consensus within the
aviation community to effect evolutionary change in the Nation's
air traffic management system. Some examples of CAASD's contributions
include:
- Helped the FAA create the National Airspace Operational Evolution
Plan, which will increase airspace and airport capacity across the country,
and move the NAS toward accommodation of Free Flight
- Developed the NAS trajectory modeling and automated conflict probe
technologies to predict air conflicts up to 20 minutes into the future
- Developed the automated conflict resolution technology to aid controllers
in solving problems while keeping aircraft close to their route, altitude,
and speed preferences
- Developed the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS),
now selected as the world's standard for such systems
- Developed the NAS Report Card, a next day performance measurement
and reporting capability
- Developed the technology and procedures to establish radar-like services
in the State of Alaska, creating a new air-to-ground link to improve
surveillance and safety in regions with no radar
- Further developed the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast
(ADS-B) technology to increase safety and capacity by increasing the
pilot's situation awareness
- Advanced the technology for airport and airspace modeling, and developed
alternative airspace designs to decrease contention for NAS resources
at system chokepoints
- Established the technology to quickly develop and evaluate new Area
Navigation (RNAV) arrival and departure routes and procedures to increase
terminal area throughput
- Implementing the National Airspace Redesign: modernizing technology,
airspace design, airport infrastructures, and procedures
- Established the architecture master plan for the evolution of the
NAS en route and traffic flow management systems
- Established the MITRE Aviation Institute to share our knowledge with
aviation stakeholders around the world
- Implemented Converging Runway Display Aid technology in Canada to
enhance safety for aircraft merging onto airport arrival routes
- Helped the Korea Civil Aviation Authority generate an airspace modernization
master plan
- Provided significant systems engineering support to the DHS Transportation Security Administration (TSA) since it was established in 2002, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks
- Instrumental in successful roll-out of the TSA Registered Traveler Program
- Instrumental in contributing to the Joint Planning and Development Office's (JPDO) concept of operations for aviation security
Organizational Structure
CAASD is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, with staff working in Atlantic
City, New Jersey, and at other locations around the world in close proximity to our customers.
CAASD also draws expertise from the MITRE-wide research and development
program and various Centers of Technical Excellence throughout the company.
Related Information
Articles and News
Technical Papers and Presentations
Websites
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