FAA’s National Simulation Capability

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is beginning a major thrust to define and develop the 21st century aviation system for the United States. During the 1980’s the FAA began a major upgrade of the communication, navigation/landing, surveillance, and air traffic control (ATe) automation systems that make up the aviation system’s infrastructure. The National Weather Service has invested billions of dollars in ,upgrading its infrastructure and will, in partnership with the FAA, be able to provide much more timely and accurate weather data and forecasts to the aviation community in the years ahead. Satellite navigation and communication systems are coming into place and their use in aviation is predicted to increase dramatically by the turn of the century. Increasingly sophisticated avionics in the cockpit will lead to dramatic changes in the way aircraft interact with the rest of the aviation system. Finally, the ever increasing power of the computer will let us give the air traffic controller and flow manager of tomorrow more sophisticated tools to manage traffic more efficiently and to control the traffic with greater safety.