New connections for cockpit and controllers: A conversation with NATS' Mike Hornby

Is it possible to run simulations where air traffic controllers in one country are interacting with cockpit crews in another as if they were all working in the same operational environment? DYN-MARS recently put that question to the test, linking controller and cockpit simulators in real time across three organisations and different countries.

The recently completed SESAR JU project explored new ways of improving the efficiency and environmental performance of air traffic operations. Among its most ambitious activities was a federated simulation delivered through close collaboration between NATS, DLR and the EUROCONTROL Innovation Hub, allowing controllers and cockpit crews to respond to each other in a shared, real-time environment.

We spoke to Mike Hornby, Airspace Concepts Manager at NATS and Technical Lead for the NATS-led exercises within the project, about how that piece of the project came together.

Could you introduce yourself and your role in the project?

I'm Mike Hornby, Airspace Concepts Manager for NATS. Within DYN-MARS, I was the Technical Lead for the NATS-led exercises, providing subject matter expert input on the air traffic control side. I also worked closely with the NATS solution lead throughout the project, alongside the technical teams at DLR and EUROCONTROL, to set up the federated simulation programme.

What exactly is a "federated simulation," and what made it unique to DYN-MARS?

Federated simulations refers to the DYN-MARS exercises that evaluated our holistic solution by linking several simulators and teams across European borders.

A core tenet of DYN-MARS was using closed-loop performance-based navigation (PBN) routes in Terminal Airspace, something new to air traffic management. We wanted to investigate whether it could reduce workload and deliver environmental benefits while maintaining safety.

The original plan was to run air traffic control (ATC) simulations on NATS equipment alone, with DLR supplying external simulations of the aircraft cockpit and desktop flight management system (FMS) from their tools. When technical difficulties arose, our colleagues at the EUROCONTROL Innovation Hub in Brétigny, France stepped in with their ATC simulator. That made it possible to link controller and cockpit environments in real time, a first for a SESAR project.

What was challenging and what went particularly well?

Working across multiple organisations meant making sure requirements and information were delivered correctly and on time, often with little prior experience of each other's systems: supplying airspace and traffic data in the right format, ensuring it behaved as expected, and coordinating team availability for testing, all against limited resources and holiday schedules.

Despite all this, we had a lot of fun in the process, especially because the DLR, EUROCONTROL and NATS teams worked phenomenally well together. From the first day of testing through to the end of the simulation programme, there were very few complications. Everyone stayed focused, hit deadlines, and turned things around quickly, which made progress easy to see.

What was the most significant achievement?

Beyond demonstrating the value of the work done in DYN-MARS, it's proof that we can run multi-organisational, cross-discipline, industry-leading research and simulations across different countries.

What questions would you like to see addressed next and what is your outlook on deployment?

As always, we have to make sure that positive results are correct and on target. The deployment aspect has to remain front and centre - we may want to change the world, but we need to be mindful of real-world costs to achieving our goals.

In a first step, the DYN-MARS airspace design could introduced in non-capacity constrained airspace or airports. It's worth remembering, however, that we're unlikely to see major benefits in these terminal manoeuvring areas (TMA), since their capacity availability means they rarely need new techniques or technology and procedures to improve operations.

For busier airspaces, I think we're still some years away from deployment. There remain open questions around airspace availability, controller training and tool availability that need to be addressed first.

DYN-MARS will be further matured as part of the upcoming DYN-MAX project. Can you tell us a little more about what your role will be in this upcoming project? What is your work going to focus on?

For DYN-MAX, NATS will lead the work packages focused on the use of Geometric Altimetry in the TMA. This work builds on exploratory research completed under another SESAR project - Green-GEAR. Our aim is to further mature these concepts and bring them closer to deployment readiness.

More about DYN-MARS

DYN-MARS is supported by the SESAR Joint Undertaking within the framework of the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme