ATC
FAA selects Honeywell to develop LAAS system
After describing its GPS LAAS precision approach system contract as “imminent” for more than six months, the FAA in early May announced its award to Honeyw

After describing its GPS LAAS precision approach system contract as “imminent” for more than six months, the FAA in early May announced its award to Honeywell.

But the contract is significantly different from that which the bidders, Raytheon and Honeywell, originally expected. What was to have been a single development and initial production program has become a three-phase activity. Phase one requires Honeywell to prove, over an 18 to 24 month period, that its design meets stringent FAA integrity criteria, under which LAAS must unfailingly warn pilots within two seconds when it cannot provide safe guidance. Phases two and three, covering system development and production, are FAA options, exercised only if the phase one requirement is met.