Programme of Remediation for S-Band Primary Radars

The UK is under an international obligation (EC Decision 2008/477/EC) to make available the 2.6 GHz band for terrestrial systems, such as mobile data communications. Ofcom are currently consulting on how to award this spectrum in 2012. The relevance of this issue to the aviation community is that S-band radars, operating in the 2.7 - 3.4 GHz band, could experience unwanted effects from legitimate transmissions in the adjacent 2.6 GHz band. This issue was highlighted in ATSIN 168, published in November 2009. In order to prevent such unwanted effects, it will be necessary for all S-band radars to be fitted with a filter and/or other modification as identified by manufacturers/Design Authorities (DA). It may also be necessary for a small number of radars operating at the lower end of the 2.7 - 3.4 GHz band to change frequency to one higher up the band.