Safety: Nigeria’s €66 million radar system obsolete, NAMA seeks replacement

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has called for the replacement of the country’s radar system, as the one in operation is said to be obsolete with the system lagging behind current edition use in most parts of the world.

Director of Air Traffic Services at the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mr Tayo John stated this during a visit to the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) site at the international wing of the Aminu Kano Airport where he interacted with Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) on duty stated that the country needs a brand new radar system.

Radar is a system for detecting the presence, direction, distance, and speed of aircraft, ships, and other objects, by sending out pulses of radio waves which are reflected off the object back to the source.

 The average lifespan of electronic systems is between 10 and 15 years. Most of these electronics including the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) radar system installed in 2011 have been working for more than 15 years.

The Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria otherwise known as TRACON was conceived as a key requirement for modernising Nigerian air traffic management infrastructure.

It has automated approach area control components such as Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR) STAR 2000, Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR) RSM 970S, Integrated Flight and Radar Data processing Eurocat C and other associated equipment at the four major airports-, Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port-Harcourt as well as stand-alone MSSR RSM-970 at five other locations like Maiduguri, Ilorin, Numan, Obubra and Talata Mafara. Other deliverables are VCCS, VRS, MF-TDMA VSAT, Fibre Optics, and Power ancillaries.

In 2022, it was estimated that the planned upgrade of TRACON commissioned 13 years ago would cost N23bn.

He disclosed that the government has started the modernisation of the system but affirmed that the best solution is to acquire a new radar for the country.

The manufacturer of the surveillance and security system, Thales of France had done two augmentations while the one used by Nigeria remains the same.

He said “This system (the radar) is already automated but it is obsolete. I won’t say it cannot guarantee the safety of operations, it can but the system needs to be augmented. The producer of this system is Thales of France. They have done about two augmentation and we are still where we are. However, the government has started what we call modernisation of the system but the major solution is to buy new radar for this country.”

The director added, “This is an automatic system, this is a technologically advanced automated system that gives you the aircraft identity, the altitude it is maintaining, the direction the aircraft is flying to and the speed of the aircraft except it is directed by air traffic controllers to change course”.

“In terms of security, this is the first phase you see aircraft coming in at a particular altitude, this is where you see aircraft descending or climbing out of a particular place, without this system you cannot see them.”

“But you see in Nigeria due to power problems, sometimes it fails, right now it is obsolete, and the labels are dropping, that is why we need a new radar system for the safety and efficiency of air navigation in Nigeria and again for the safety of the flying public.”

John further said NAMA can efficiently and adequately monitor and coordinate rescue operations from its major two centres in Kano and Lagos and other centres in Abuja and other locations.

He commended other stakeholders in the rescue mission for their collaboration at any given time, saying, “We can coordinate rescue operations from here. We have other rescue sub-centres under Lagos and Kano in collaboration with all the stakeholders including the military, Air Force, army, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigeria fire service of each state, Julius Berger, oil companies among others.”

The director equally lauded the staff under his directorate, affirming that they work round the clock and sometimes at personal risk to their lives to ensure the safety of flight operations and passengers in the country just as he urged them not to rest on their oars.

Wole Shadare