Global air traffic management (GATM) requirements for military rotary-wing aircraft

To help cope with the ever increasing demand for air travel, Civil Aviation Authorities (CAA), along with the Air Transportation Industry have established programs that restructure airspace and mandate the carriage of addition equipment to allow aircraft to more effectively use airspace. These initiatives are known as Communication, Navigation, Surveillance, Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) to the civil community and Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) to the military. Primarily, CNS/ATM (GATM) initiatives have been designed around fixed wing aircraft. These aircraft have specific and well-defined flight regimes and performance characteristics. Rotary-wing aircraft have significantly different characteristics than their fixed wing counterparts, adversely effecting the rotary-wing aircraft's ability meet the intended CNS/ATM (GATM) initiatives. This paper discusses the issues facing military rotorcraft, which are required to maintain all tactical mission capabilities, while achieving interoperability and compliance with the regulations for airspace designed to accommodate fixed wing aircraft. In addition, it identifies the CNS/ATM (GATM) initiatives that will have the most impact on military rotary-wing aircraft and provide guidance as to how the CNS/ATM (GATM) functionality may best be implemented, while maintaining full tactical mission capability.