Airmen at Nellis AFB, Nev., stood up a new system for the base’s air traffic controllers that replaces older, less-capable technology, according to a base release. The Standard Terminal Automation Modernization Replacement System, or STARS, is command-automated control hardware that integrates aircraft surveillance and flight plan data and presents the information to controllers on high-resolution color displays. The Air Force plans to integrate STARS at all of its ATC facilities, states the Oct. 24 release. “STARS gives the controllers the ability to have and receive more information as well as find things quicker,” said SSgt. Christopher Alvarez, an air traffic controller with Nellis’ 57th Operational Support Squadron. “The biggest advantage is it’s an Air Force wide-system and it allows Nellis controllers to meet their wartime commitment downrange once they arrive versus having to get recertified on a different system,” added CMSgt. Rodney Wilson, chief of Nellis’ ATC facility. Nearby Creech Air Force Base also received STARS, states the release.
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
