New state-of-the-art ILS activated at Offutt

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Ryan Mendoza
  • 55th Communications Squadron
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  Almost every day, dozens of aircraft land on Offutt's flight line, and not all of those landings are easy. Often times there are low clouds or other situations that impede the sight of pilots landing here.

For the last 14 years, Offutt has utilized Precision Approach Radar, or PAR, to make things easier. Since the 1970s, this system has been used to guide planes onto the runway via verbal communications between air traffic controllers and incoming aircraft. Using the system, air traffic controllers could easily notify the pilots if their descent was too high or too low, or if they needed to correct to the left or right.

Like muscle cars from the 1970s, the PAR has been around for awhile and feeling the strains of age. The PAR requires a work center of four to keep it running and air traffic controllers to operate. It's also become rather costly to repair. Since January 2003, it has cost $2.7 million to keep the PAR operational. In other words, this once beastly "muscle car" is badly outdated.

To fix the situation, Offutt switched to a new state-of-the-art Instrument Landing System June 21, which gives navigational information directly to an aircraft's instrument panel without the need of an air traffic controller.

During a special ceremony, 55th Operations Group Commander Col. John Hansen threw a large symbolic switch to turn off the outdated PAR system. Immediately following and with an OC-135 landing in the background, 55th Communications Group Commander Col. Dennis Lisherness threw a second switch to signify the commissioning of the ILS.

The ILS is composed of a localizer, to give horizontal guidance, and a glideslope, which gives vertical guidance.

The costly parts, downtime and manpower used for the PAR is a thing of the past, as the new Selex ILS comes with a 15- year warranty and requires less maintenance. Officials estimate the system will pay for itself within three years, leaving 12 years on the service contract. The high amount of savings, in both manpower and monetary funds, justified the Productivity Enhancing Capital Investment funds used to pay for this project. These funds are allocated based on guaranteed savings by eliminating another high-cost system.

The PAR has now been turned off and is awaiting dismantling.