Radar Divestiture Program Terminology

  • Divestiture is a high-level term used to define when the FAA no longer bears the full cost of ownership of radar equipment.
  • Discontinuance (per FAAO 6000.15) means the termination or discontinued use of a facility whose activity level meets the criteria for removal from service in the National Airspace System (NAS). The justification for the facility may no longer exist or has changed significantly, causing the facility to become a candidate for decommissioning.
  • Decommission (per FAAO 6000.15) means the permanent removal of a discontinued facility, system, subsystem, or equipment from the NAS without replacing its functions, capabilities, or services with a facility of the same Facilities, Service, and Equipment Profile type.
  • Disposition (per FAAO 4600.27, Appendix B, FAA Reutilization and Disposition Process and Procedures Guide) means discarding or relinquishing control over excess or surplus assets in accordance with appropriate Government regulations through transfer, donation, sale, recycling, destruction or another final disposal action.
  • Disposal (per FAAO 4600.27) is the act of rendering surplus personal property assets unfit for reuse, such as recycling or destruction.
  • Locations
    • Sensor is the surveillance equipment (located at a site) which produces radar data.
    • Site is a general term used to define the physical location of the radar and/or ancillary equipment and buildings or shelters.
    • Facility is the operational air traffic locations that radars provide surveillance data to, e.g. Air Route Traffic Control Center, Terminal Radar Approach Control Facility, or Airport Traffic Control Tower.
  • Property
    • Personal Property (the equipment) is any asset, other than land and fixed-in-place buildings
    • Real Property (the land and building) is any interest in land, together with the improvements, structures, and fixtures located thereon (including prefabricated movable structures), and appurtenances thereto, under the control of any Federal agency. In other words, the term "real" should be associated with realty, land, or something attached to the land.
  • Non-cooperative Radar (Primary radar) identifies and tracks an aircraft's position independently, without the use of on-board avionics, using radio signal reflections.  No cooperation is required from the aircraft. Non-cooperative radars include: Long Range (ARSR-4, CARSR), Short Range (ASR-8/9/11), and Surface (ASDE-X/ASSC SMR).
  • Cooperative Radars (Secondary radar) are Beacon Interrogators that identify and track an aircraft using interrogations and broadcasts emitted from on-board aircraft transponders. Beacon Interrogators include: BI-5, Mode S, BI-6, MSSR. Other cooperative surveillance systems include: Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast and Multilateration (ASDE-X/ASSC, WAM).
  • Short Range Radars are surveillance systems with 60 nautical mile (NM) range used for terminal and en route operations that includes non-cooperative and/or cooperative systems.
  • Long Range Radars are surveillance systems with 200-250 NM range used for terminal and en route operations that include non-cooperative and/or cooperative capability.
Last updated: Tuesday, June 16, 2020