Federal officials say a compressed, multibillion-dollar effort to modernize air traffic control will replace aging radar, communications, and facilities nationwide, though aviation experts warn the timeline carries significant risks.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The federal government has begun what Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has described as the most consequential infrastructure undertaking in decades: a full-scale modernization of the United States air traffic control system, touching nearly every corner of the nation’s aviation network within a targeted three-and-a-half to four-year window, according to a report by The Epoch Times.
The initiative, which federal aviation officials say is long overdue, aims to overhaul the core technological backbone that manages U.S. airspace, including communications, radar, software, and physical facilities. Aviation experts interviewed by The Epoch Times said the system’s age and complexity have made modernization unavoidable, even as the scope of the project raises concerns about execution and safety.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the program will cost at least $32.5 billion. An initial $12.5 billion was funded through President Donald Trump’s July 2025 spending bill, while Duffy has formally requested an additional $20 billion from Congress to complete the work before the end of Trump’s current term.
The FAA has outlined plans to replace copper telecommunications lines with fiber optics, a transition Duffy has said is already more than 30 percent complete, and to shift from outdated analog communications to wireless and satellite-based systems. The work will span nearly 5,000 locations nationwide and include the deployment of more than 25,000 new radios and 462 digital voice switches, according to an FAA fact sheet.
More than 600 radar systems that have exceeded their intended service life are slated for replacement. Some of the ground-based radar still in use dates back to the 1940s through the 1970s.
“The primary radar system—that goes back to World War II, and that’s still in use,” said Margaret Wallace, a former military air traffic controller and assistant professor of aviation management at Florida Institute of Technology. “That’s basically detecting that there is something in the air. You can’t always tell what it is.”
Wallace said decades of layered technological add-ons have created interdependencies that make failures more disruptive. “If a lower level has an issue, then that’s going to create issues in all the other layers of technology,” she said.
The modernization effort also expands the FAA’s Surface Awareness Initiative, a ground-based system that allows controllers to monitor aircraft movements on runways and taxiways. As of March 2025, the system was operational at 18 airports, with a target of 50 by the end of that year. An FAA spokesman told The Epoch Times on Jan. 6 that installations have now reached 52 control towers, with a long-term goal of 200 airports.
Plans also include constructing a new consolidated air route traffic control center—the first such build in six decades—along with replacing multiple control towers and a Terminal Radar Approach Control facility, which manages air traffic across regional airport clusters.
Aviation professionals broadly agree the upgrades are necessary. Wallace noted that while other countries have modernized identification and communication systems across their airspace, the United States still relies heavily on analog radio frequencies.
“These are basically like the AM/FM radios you have in your car,” she said, adding that such systems have been eclipsed by digital technology in nearly every other sector.
Shawn Pruchnicki, a former pilot and aviation safety expert at Ohio State University, said congested radio channels are among pilots’ most persistent frustrations.
“We have this single channel for communications that only one person can talk at a time,” Pruchnicki said. “I don’t know how you get around that.”
He described situations in busy airspace where pilots struggle to communicate amid nonstop transmissions, creating potential complications during emergencies when immediate contact with controllers is critical.
Despite broad support for modernization, several experts expressed concern about the project’s aggressive timeline. Aviation attorney and private pilot Greg Reigel called it “probably aggressive,” describing the initiative as one of the most ambitious infrastructure efforts in U.S. history.
“I think it’s a good thing. I think they’re on the right track,” Reigel said. “I just hope that they’re doing this the right way, and that safety is first and foremost.”
Wallace was more skeptical, saying a full overhaul within four years is unrealistic given the need for testing, training, and gradual transitions between old and new facilities.
“You can’t just say, ‘Let’s flip the switch,’” she said, noting that moving personnel and adapting human operators to new systems adds complexity beyond hardware installation.
Shem Malmquist, an aviation safety consultant with nearly four decades of experience, said managing change in such a safety-critical system requires careful documentation and balance.
“When you make a change, you can go back and trace and say, ‘Is this going to affect these other things?’” he said.
To lead the effort, the FAA announced on Dec. 4, 2025, that it had selected Peraton as the project’s prime integrator, responsible for overseeing delivery and minimizing disruptions. The agency detailed the role in a formal announcement and accompanying fact sheet.
Peraton, a national security and technology firm, was spun out of Harris Corporation’s government IT services division after its acquisition by Veritas Capital in 2017. In a September 2025 statement, the company said it offers a “holistic approach” free from legacy supplier constraints.
Harris Corporation previously played a major role in aviation technology, with air traffic control listed as a core business line in its 2016 annual report. The company partnered with Lockheed Martin in 2002 on air traffic management systems and acquired SolaCom Technologies in 2009. In 2012, the FAA awarded Harris a 15-year, $291 million contract under the agency’s earlier NextGen program.
NextGen, like the current initiative, sought nationwide modernization but was spread over more than two decades. A 2024 Department of Transportation inspector general report found the program had stalled, with some components delayed until at least 2030.
Federal officials now say the new effort is designed to avoid that fate, even as experts caution that the scale, speed, and safety demands of rebuilding U.S. air traffic control simultaneously present an unprecedented challenge.
Original article
Comments