Electronic Systems Center team completes Bulgarian navigational aid effort, enhances NATO compatibility

  • Published
  • By Chuck Paone
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. (AFNS) --  An Electronic Systems Center team has completed a foreign military sales effort in Bulgaria, adding new capabilities for this NATO-member nation and enhancing U.S. security interests in the region.

The ESC and contractor team completed the site acceptance test and flight certification for the AN/TRN-26 Tactical Air Navigation System and its tactical generator power system at Dolna Mitropolia Air Base in June. The center's Aerospace Battle Management Division provided the TACAN system, which was manufactured and installed by Moog Inc.

The TACAN is a military navigation aid that provides both distance and course information to pilots in all weather conditions. At its installed location, the TACAN's primary function is to provide area navigation information that guides approaching pilots to the instrument landing system for the execution of a precision approach landing in all weather conditions.

However, it can also be used during visual flight rule conditions, daylight or clear skies, to help pilots conduct "non-precision" approach landings.

"The TACAN gives operators at the airfield and pilots the most advanced technology available," said Peter Radzikowski, the team's chief engineer. "It's a huge step up from what they'd been working with before."

That equipment consisted of various pieces of Soviet-era technology from the 1950s and '60s that were effectively obsolete and often malfunctioning.

While the system was installed at a fixed training base, it remains highly mobile, said Jamison Murray, the program manager.

"You can move it and set up anywhere else in the country within a day," he said.

Mr. Murray also touted the system's reliability, noting that it provides continuous operational capability even in an area where power outages occur frequently. The TACAN comes with instantaneous battery back-up and a diesel-powered generator that kicks in automatically when electrical power cuts out.

During normal operations, the TACAN is both self-operating and self-monitoring, Mr. Radzikowski said.
"There's no man-machine interface required to operate the system," he said.

The TACAN doesn't require additional equipment or instrumentation in the aircraft, either. Pilots simply tune in to the proper channel to connect and receive course guidance. Also, because TACAN usage training is part of the initial pilot training curriculum, no additional training is needed.

Like any such endeavor, this one came with challenges.

"Anytime you have to get a highly technical piece of equipment delivered and installed overseas, there are a lot of logistical issues to overcome," Mr. Murray said, lauding the cooperative efforts of everyone involved, including the Bulgarians.

"This is a tremendous leap forward for the Bulgarian air forces, which can now safely conduct training operations day and night, in all weather conditions," Mr. Murray said.

It's also another step forward in the effort to expand the U.S. and NATO security interests.

"The results of the work we do around the world enhance safety and operational efficiency for our U.S. Air Force operators and those of our allies," said Col. Timothy Nickerson, the deputy division director. "At the same time, we know we're advancing critical security interests and enhancing coalition cooperation across the globe."