Robin Radar Systems is delighted to announce that we had an article published in the most recent issue of the Royal Air Force’s safety magazine Air Clues.
With its coastal location, RAF Lossiemouth station is particularly vulnerable to the threat posed by birds. Over the past 2 years, our flagship avian radar MAX® has helped the RAF mitigate bird strikes and provided 24/7 actionable data about bird movements.
The article discusses how bird detection radar is helping protect aircraft from bird strikes at Lossiemouth, and details an actual incident when radar provided the Bird Control Unit with an advanced warning of potential bird strike and aided in recovery.
“Airfield Wildlife Control Operators are active on the airfield during all flying hours to detect and disperse any bird activity. Since the radar has come into force, they have access to an in-vehicle tablet, which allows them to track the birds' movements detected by the radar in real-time and pass on any potentially dangerous bird activity to the controllers in the tower to communicate with the pilots.
The radar has especially proven its benefit during periods of darkness, where the wildlife operators previously had limited visibility and had to rely more on their auditory sense; now, they have a visual aid in the radar. In addition, the radar outputs all data collected, including but not limited to the number of near-misses, birds crossing the runway and exact bird hot spot areas. The Wildlife Hazard Management Unit can now access and analyse this information to better understand and predict local bird patterns and trends.”
RAF Lossiemouth’s Bird Control Unit Wildlife Manager
You can read about about the RAF’s success story here and see the full issue below:
