By Oladele Eniola
The Managing Director, Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mr Tayib Odunowo, says the ongoing Multilateration (MLAT) surveillance project carried out in the Niger Delta region is 90% completed.
Odunowo said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the 27th League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) Conference in Lagos, themed: “Aviation Industry: Changing Times, Changing Strategies.”
NAN reports that Multilateration (MLat) is a proven technology that has been in use for many decades in both navigation and surveillance applications to track aircraft at any location.
NAMA recently installed an equipment known as Wide Area Multi Lateration in Port Harcourt for low flying aircraft in the Gulf of Guinea.
The project was approved by the the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in 2018.
Odunowo said the agency was on course to completing the project in few months time, adding that plans were on to also replicate the same development across the country.
“Presently, the multilateration system is 90 per cent completed. It is basically concentrated more in the Delta. That region is the busiest airspace right now in Nigeria.
“If you look at the proximity of all the airports, you have all these low flying objects. What NAMA is trying to do is to make sure that anything that flies in the Delta region is picked by the Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS).
“But right now, we intend to deploy Multilateration Technology (MLAT) all over Nigeria, starting from the Delta region.
“Don’t forget, even in foreign countries, MLAT kind of superimposes your regular radar. So, they actually work hand-in-hand.”
Odunowo said the equipment would help the agency in carrying out monitoring, control and surveillance of both the manned and unmanned aircraft in the Niger Delta region.
He added that the system also made provision for capturing of low-level flying helicopters in the Gulf of Guinea, especially as their activities increased in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria.
Odunowo said it had also incorporated the Unmanned-aircraft Traffic Management System (UTM system) otherwise known as remotely piloted aircraft systems.
According to him, the equipment can monitor drones and control them within the entire Niger Delta region.
Odunowo said in bridging the gap within the upper airspace, it had taken a three-pronged approach.
He said: “We are starting with rolling out nine solar-powered transmitters, then deploying manpower and also forging ahead with its AIS automation project.
“The ongoing AIS automation project is the backbone of everything, and before the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Audit, all five international airports in Nigeria will be operational.”
The MD said the communication gap would cease to exist once the first and the second phases were completed. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Oluwole Sogunle
