Newark Airport Replaces 30-Year-Old Radar With New Runway-Safety Technology, Allowing Better Visibility Even in Bad Weather
Air traffic controllers at Newark Liberty International Airport have a new tool for keeping track of what is moving across the airport’s busy runways and taxiways. The new radar is replacing equipment that had been in service for roughly 30 years.
On Aug. 11, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) unveiled Newark’s new Surface Movement Radar Model 4, or SMR-4. The system allows controllers to track aircraft and ground vehicles, regardless of weather and visibility conditions.
That becomes especially important at night, in the fog, or during poor weather, when conditions may be poor enough that controllers cannot clearly see everything happening on the airport surface from the tower. The FAA is implementing this new technology in hopes that it will ease those fears with confidence and security.
The Radar Helps Controllers See Potential Conflicts
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The new radar system works by feeding information into Newark’s Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X, or ASDE-X. In an official FAA bulletin, the agency described surface movement radar as the “radar backbone” of that broader safety system.
ASDE-X combines radar with other surveillance information to show controllers where aircraft and vehicles are moving across runways and taxiways. The FAA says the system can also alert controllers to potential conflicts.
An additional problem the technology is designed to help guard against is a runway incursion. The FAA defines a runway incursion as an aircraft, vehicle, or person being somewhere they should not be within the protected area of a runway.
The consequences of runway incursions can vary greatly. Some involve no immediate safety consequences, while more serious cases are close calls in which a collision is only just narrowly avoided.
Newark Is Getting More Than A New Radar
The surface radar is just one piece of a larger technology overhaul at Newark, all part of creating a more secure, cohesive whole. According to the FAA, about 90% of the airport’s older copper wiring has already been replaced with high-speed fiber.
Additionally, controllers are transitioning from paper flight strips to electronic ones. Those papers are small printed strips used to track important details about each aircraft and its respective flight.
Over the next three years, the airport is set to receive $30 million for even more upgrades still. By the end of summer 2027, the FAA says Newark is also expected to receive new controller information displays, upgraded voice switches and a new long-range radar.
These improvements come in the wake of technology and staffing problems that disrupted Newark operations just last year.
At the time, the FAA said that aging equipment, staffing shortages, runway construction, and congestion all created a perfect storm of problems, contributing to delays and ultimately prompting the agency to accelerate major improvements in key areas of airport operations.
