Empowers Safe Conduct of Low-altitude Flights

Concluding extensive flight testing and verification by special operations pilots, Elbit Systems’ new Terrain-Following and Terrain Avoidance (TF/TA) system has been declared operational onboard C-130 aircraft of an unidentified air force, the company announced on 28 February. The system was provided as part of an Elbit-led comprehensive C-130 avionics upgrade programme.

The TF/TA system enables military transport aircraft to safely conduct low altitude flights in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC), significantly extending their operational envelope. It combines high-resolution ground mapping data from an onboard terrain-following radar, complemented by a digital terrain elevation database, offering high manoeuvrability. The system’s real-time terrain data processing and advanced algorithms take into account the aircraft’s flight performance characteristics, thus enabling terrain variations to be anticipated and providing optimised climb/descend commands to keep the aircraft in the selected altitude for the entire mission.

Elbit Systems’ TF/TA system is offered for military airlifters and helicopters and can be implemented as part of the company’s basic Communication, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) avionics upgrade suite or as a stand-alone component.