A REPLACEMENT PROGRAMME SIZED FOR A DOUBLING OF TRAFFIC

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore has awarded Thales a contract to develop a new NexGen Air Traffic Management System and air traffic control radars, replacing the current LORADS III system with Thales’ TopSky – ATC One solution. The system is scheduled to enter operational service by 2030 and is specified to enable air traffic controllers to handle up to one million aircraft movements annually. The project also covers knowledge transfer, including through CAAS officers joining the project office in France, alongside localisation projects in Singapore.

Pascale Sourisse, Senior Executive Vice-President for International Development at Thales, said the company was honoured to continue its long-standing partnership with CAAS on the programme, describing NexGen ATMS as a new chapter in Singapore’s air traffic management. She said Thales’ installed base and the joint experience of delivering transformative projects with CAAS, including LORADS III, had enabled the parties to test, co-innovate and develop future-ready solutions supporting the safe and efficient management of air traffic.

TOPSKY – ATC ONE AND THE AI SEQUENCING COMPONENT

At the centre of the system is TopSky – ATC One, Thales’ automation solution, which provides air traffic controllers with real-time decision-support tools, streamlined workflows and a human-machine interface. The system is powered by TopSky – Sequencer, an AI-based sequencing solution that optimises aircraft arrival and departure flows. Thales states this reduces delays, fuel consumption and carbon emissions — the mechanism being that more efficient sequencing reduces the holding and tactical vectoring that consume fuel in terminal airspace, an effect that scales with traffic density.

The NexGen ATMS incorporates cybersecurity technologies in compliance with the standards of both the International Civil Aviation Organization and Singapore. Thales states that the platform’s open architecture ensures future scalability, enabling upgrades and the integration of third-party solutions as aviation technologies evolve — a specification consideration of increasing weight in ATM procurement, where systems are typically expected to remain in service for two decades or more and to accommodate airspace users, including uncrewed traffic, that may not exist at the point of installation.

RADAR SURVEILLANCE

Alongside the ATM system, Thales will deploy two next-generation air traffic control radars providing continuous aircraft detection capability in challenging weather conditions. Their integration into the NexGen ATMS architecture is intended to enhance situational awareness and provide controllers with accurate surveillance data. Thales established its presence in Singapore in 1973 and now employs over 2,000 people across four locations in the country, with Centres of Excellence covering avionics, defence, inflight entertainment, naval drones, public security, radars and space. The group generated sales of €22.1 billion in 2025 and allocates €4.5 billion annually to research and development.