Air Combat Command rolled out an air traffic radar upgrade to minimize signal interference from commercial wind-turbine farms, officials announced. “The results have proven successful by any measure,” Federal Aviation Administration engineering team leader Mark Carmouche said in a June 10 release. The computer software fix to the Common Air Route Surveillance Radar system used by civil and military agencies was developed by the FAA, and funded by the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security over the last three years. The upgrade filters out many of the false returns generated by turbines moving blade tips and “the results have been verified with multiple flight campaigns” with excellent results, he added. The CARSR upgrade mitigates but does not totally eliminate clutter, and does nothing for airborne or ground-based radars outside the system, according to officials. The agencies involved will continue researching methods to combat wind turbine clutter and upgrading CARSR.
The U.S., South Korea, and Japan flew an unusual trilateral flight with two U.S. B-52H Stratofortress bombers escorted by two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2s, and two ROK Air Force KF-16 fighters—both countries’ respective variants of the F-16—July 11. That same weekend, the top military officers of the three nations…