Robin Radar Systems today announced the symbolic handing over of multiple bird radars to the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) and the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF). This milestone is a major move for Robin Radar Systems on its mission to increase safety at military air bases around the world, by providing actionable information for bird strike avoidance.
Siete Hamminga, CEO at Robin Radar Systems, and Commander Dick Kreiter, Director of Projects for DMO, were present for the handover ceremony at 14:00 today.
“When it comes to bird strike prevention, the RNLAF has always been a front runner. They’re the first to implement 3D bird radars on all of their bases. Having this unprecedented level of real-time situational awareness will likely serve as ‘best practice’ within NATO,” says Siete Hamminga, CEO at Robin Radar Systems.
“This project is a great example of resolving a need for our people; allowing them to take-off, land and exercise in a safe way without having to be worried that they hit a bird,” says Project Manager Niels Teunissen, Project Directorate DMO.
“Bird controllers used to have a few hundred metres line-of-sight, but now the bird radars bring the complete airfield and surroundings into view,” says Hans van Gasteren, Nature Bureau RNLAF.
Flight Safety First
As part of their dedication to improving flight safety, the prevention of bird strikes has been a priority of the RNLAF for decades.
Precise detection of birds and bird movements on and around air bases is a crucial part of this.
The damage caused by bird strikes range from not being able to carry out missions, to damage and downtime of operational aircraft, all the way up to complete loss of aircraft, and even life.
The new bird radars enable the RNLAF to gather objective and persistent knowledge of bird movements on and around all of their national air bases, preventing bird strikes and increasing flight safety.
The data is provided visually in real-time and is also available as long-term data analytics.
The benefits of real-time visualisation of bird movements are:
- Preventing bird strikes by giving bird controllers full situational awareness and actionable information on bird movements on and around the airport
- Preventing other runway incursions and airspace infringements
The benefits of long-term analytics of bird movements are:
- Preventing bird strikes by measuring the true impact of habitat management (making the area unattractive for birds) and optimising based on the results
- Being better able to assess the risks of any planning developments within the bird restriction zones of 6km around air bases
The bird radars are primarily intended to support the local bird controllers by greatly increasing their situational awareness. In due course, the systems are also intended to support air traffic control too.
About ROBIN RADAR SYSTEMS: Robin is one of the fastest growing technology companies in the Netherlands, providing actionable information to increase safety through its bird and drone radars. Its bird radars are used for bird strike avoidance at civil and military airports the world round, as well as for mitigating the impact of wind farms on birds. Its drone radars are used at airports, and for protecting critical infrastructure, military installations, and security events the world over.