Digitised MSSR radar installation at SVPIA from Aug 23

Installation of the most modern digitised Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR) will soon begin at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA), officials said here today.
"A planned scheduled withdrawal of radar will be under taken from August 23, as we get into the process of installing the most modern MSSR radar here. All stakeholders (airlines and pilots) have been informed about it well in advance to avoid inconvenience," SVPIA Joint GM, Air Traffic Control, A Sanyal told reporters.
During the around three-month scheduled withdrawal period, SVPIA will operate without a radar. However, it shall operate on external assistance taken from three MSSR installed airports of Porbandar, Bhopal and Udaipur, and would follow the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) procedure control codes for navigation.

The Eldis Pardubice-make MSSR radar, being imported from Czech Republic, will replace the old technology based 15 year old NGO-SCO radar here, which has been reporting target drop in the past.
"The new modern Eldis make radar will help us offer better air traffic control services in Gujarat not only at SVPIA, but even at airports of Rajkot and Bhavnagar," she said adding that the mode S system complaint radar will be able to display the name of plane as well on screen.
"The digitised radar system will help improve surveillance coverage upto 300 nautical miles against the existing limitation of 200 nautical miles," Sanyal claimed.

During the planned withdrawal period, ICAO procedure control shall be in-force, which states that distance of more than usual 5 nautical miles shall be maintained among airplanes approaching the airport, officials said.