Company history
half a century of pioneering
Company
Military R&D
from the early 1960s
Military technology
1961 KOPÁČ
Five generations of TDOA based passive radar are considered in the Czech industry: KOPÁČ, RAMONA, TAMARA, VERA S/E and VERA-NG. The name KOPÁČ is the abbreviation for the Czech wording of Correlation Intelligence (korelační pátrač). The mockup was built in the 1960s and used in the Berlin Crisis in 1961.
Company
TESLA (predecessor)
from the 1971 up to 1994
Military technology
1979 RAMONA
The second generation of TDOA based passive radars was called RAMONA as the abbreviation of the Russian wording for the Fast Tunable Radio Apparatus (Радиотехническая Апаратура Ϻгновенной Настройки). The RAMONA was exported throughout the Warsaw Pact countries and to Syria between 1980 and 1986. RAMONA was developed in Military Research Institute VU 060 and manufactured at TESLA Pardubice. It was called “Soft Ball” in NATO terminology.
Military technology
1986 TAMARA
The third generation of the TDOA based passive radar was called TAMARA as the abbreviation of the Russian wording for the Fast Tunable Automatic Intelligence Apparatus (Техническая Апаратура Ϻгновенной Автоматической Разведки). TAMARA was exported throughout the Warsaw Pact countries and to Oman between 1986 and 1991. TAMARA was developed and manufactured at TESLA Pardubice. It was called “Trash Bin” in NATO terminology. The abbreviations RAMONA and TAMARA sound like a woman's name, perhaps this is not a coincidence.
Company
ERA
founded in 1994
Technology
1995 Multilateration for civilian use
ERA Company created the world of multilateration. The ERA civil multilateration system was based on its military version developed in the early 1960s. It was designed for round-the-clock operations based on the Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) multilateration principle and is proven to provide accurate and reliable real-time location and identification of all aircraft and other objects equipped with a Mode A/C/S transponder.
Military technology
1996 VERA S/M (E)
The name of the fourth generation VERA S/M (E) originated with a real woman's name - Ret. Col. Věra Perlingerová. Doctor Perlingerová, former ATC controller of the Czech Army, together with a handful of colleagues helped restart the use of passive radars by introducing the advantages of multilateration technology to the Czech Armed Forces and by lobbying among Czech politicians and other decision-makers.
Technology
1999 First Surface MLAT – Prague
ERA deployed the world's first operational MLAT surface system at Prague Ruzyně Airport now "Václav Havel Airport Prague". Multilateration technology (MLAT) is able to provide continual and automatic surface surveillance by using small, unmanned ground stations placed strategically around the airport. The system is ideally suited to complex airport layouts. This essential part of Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System addresses the serious risk of runway incursions by aircraft and airport vehicles.
Technology
2002 First WAM Ostrava – 2003 First CAA certification
The Wide Area Multilateration system deployed around Ostrava Mošnov airport in 2003 was the first WAM in the world to be operationally certified and fully integrated into the Air Traffic Control structure. The ERA system was type certified in 2003 against ICAO ANNEX 10 for interrogation and against Eurocontrol radar standards for surveillance performance. The system has celebrated its 12th anniversary of flawless operations, having functioned non-stop without any critical errors occurring for over 100 thousand hours.
Technology
2004 SQUID – Vehicle tracking unit
ERA's squitter beacon SQUID helps airports address safety issues by providing an easily installed and standards compliant vehicle-mounted ADS-B transponder. SQUID broadcasts the exact position of each vehicle and can be permanently or magnetically mounted on tugs, fire appliances, de-icing equipment and all airside vehicles. This ensures that the complete picture is available to the control tower, with each vehicle clearly and uniquely identified.
Company
ERA acquired by Rannoch
in 2006
ATM and military technology
2006 MSS – Multi-sensor surveillance system
Multi-sensor Surveillance System MSS (Multilateration and ADS-B cooperative system) consists of highly robust ground stations which minimize maintenance activity and are suitable even for territories with a lack of an adequate modern infrastructure such as snow-capped mountains, damp rain forests and desert areas. The modules of each station are designed to survive extreme outdoor climate conditions. They are completely dust-proof, can withstand a wide temperature range (minus 40 to plus 60 Celsius), no fans or air-conditioning are necessary and they survive immersion in 1 metre deep water for 30 minutes.
Company
ERA owned by SRA International
from 2008
Company
ERA owned by OMNIPOL
from 2011 to the present
Military technology
2011 VERA-NG
The last, fifth generation of PET system is called VERA-NG. The abbreviation “NG” means the Next Generation. Compared to its predecessors, the VERA-NG system has numerous new features, it is lighter and much more efficient. It has been used by the Czech Armed Forces and exported throughout the world.
Military technology
2013 MSPSR passive
ERA presented the demonstrator of passive Multistatic Primary Surveillance Radar (MSPSR) called Silent Guard as the next significant milestone in the MSPSR technology development project. In contrast to a ESM system such as VERA-NG, which exploits a different kind of signal emissions generated by a target, the MSPSR utilises a reflected signal and is therefore able to detect non-cooperative and quiet targets in the same way as primary radars do. The MSPSR passive system utilises signals scattered by targets and commercial transmitters as illuminators of opportunity in order to detect and track airborne targets.
Technology
2014 NEO – composite multilateration and ADS-B system
ERA new product NEO is the newly enhanced next-gen multi-sensor surveillance system - a proven technology combining MLAT and ADS-B sensors. The system also decodes ADS-B messages (1090 ES) and can be configured as a stand-alone network of ADS-B ground stations, capable of independent ASTERIX output.
Company
Founding of branches
- 2014 Brno
- 2014 Praha
- 2016 Strakonice
- 2018 Uherské Hradiště
from 2014 to 2018
Company
R-SYS – acquisition and creation of a new subsidiary
ERA purchased the majority share (i. e. controlling interest) in the Slovak R&D company R-SYS, Ltd., its former subcontractor and thus created a new subsidiary.
in 2016
Technology
2016 3R
Record & Replay & InvestigatoR is a system designed for recording, long-term storage and analytical synchronized replaying of audio, video and data files. Its sub-system “Technical and Investigation Client” (TIC) is suitable for analysing any unordinary events.
Company
New building and headquarters of ERA
Developmental and administrative centre as headquarters of ERA in Pardubice
in 2017
Military technology
2017 VERA-NG – added functions for tracking of naval targets
The last, fifth generation of PET system is called VERA-NG. The abbreviation “NG” means the Next Generation. Compared to its predecessors, the VERA-NG system has numerous new features, it is lighter and much more efficient. It has been used by the Czech Armed Forces and exported throughout the world.VERA-NG offers high capacity 3D tactical display of targets in real time, with newly added abilities to track and identify not only air, but also surface and naval targets. Additionally, it gathers long-term strategic data and analysis for ELINT – Electronic Intelligence.
Military technology
2017 ERIS C2
ERIS Command and Control is an information system designed to support command and control of air forces at operational and tactical levels, enabling planning and implementation of air and GBAD operations. It meets all requirements for military systems of command and control C2 as well as ATC systems for both military and civil air traffic management.
Military technology
2018 Simulator for Passive ESM Trackers
Simulator is a training tool for the Passive Surveillance Systems (e.g. VERA-NG) simulating any type of battlefield scenario: airspace, ground or navy and significantly decreases the time needed for new users to obtain experience without affecting the performance of the operational system. It can simulate any scenario on demand to create situations such as: navigation flights, dog fights, AWACS monitoring or border crossing.
Technology
2018 IXO
IXO SYSTEM is a comprehensive solution for both airspace users and providers for integrating available information regarding aircraft operation, both manned and unmanned (RPAS). Its applications include planning flights and determining drone zones.
Technology
2019 ERIS ATM
ERIS Air Traffic Management is an information system designed for radar and procedural air traffic control at all types of ATC centres. It allows for tracking and evaluation of the movement of air objects and fulfilling special functions depending on the location and the way of its particular implementation.
Technology
2019 ERIS A
ERIS A is an ATM and ATC system for ground surveillance at medium-sized and regional airports. ERIS Alternative Common Ground Surveillance is designed for airport surveillance and surface movement control with the capability of detecting objects (airplanes, vehicles, or persons) moving in the defined areas of an airport.
Military technology
2021 PLESS
The Passive Long-range ESM Surveillance System (PLESS) is a passive Over-The-Horizon (OTH) Direction Finding (DF) system developed by ERA. Thanks to the utilization of tropospheric reflectivity properties, the PLESS system can see targets located even beyond the radio horizon. The system is able to detect, locate, identify and track air, land and naval targets up to 700 km and thus be used as an early warning system.
Technology
2021 MSS-5
MSS-5 is the 5th generation of the Multilateration Surveillance System (MSS) tailored for Air Traffic Management. MSS-5 answers the 5 main challenges of ATM nowadays: traffic density, deployability, time synchronization, safety and security. The system provides accurate real-time localization, tracking and identification of all objects equipped with transponder: at the airport surface, in TMA and en-route.
Technology
2022 ERIS-DART
ERIS-DART (ERA Surveillance Data Analysis and Replay Tool) is a validation tool used for data analysis and evaluation of surveillance system performance against conformity of EUROCAE specification. The data are continuously recorded and archived, so they can be easily obtained for analysis and evaluation as needed.
ATM and military technology
2022 ERIS-COMMS
ERIS-COMMS is an information system designed for SW data routing and advanced data dissemination to transfer data from the sensors to destinations in data communication networks. Following the “need to know” principle, ERIS-COMMS is capable of restricting sensitive data before transferring them to the receiving parties.
Military technology
2022 EW-EDMT
EW-EDMT (Electronic Warfare ERA Data Mining Tool) is an application used for comprehensive management and post-mission analysis of data collected during the ESM/ELINT platforms operations. It works with all kinds of incoming data from ERA’s VERA-NG and other ESM systems (for instance PLESS) and allows users to import, convert, process, filter, identify and store them. The general aim of post-mission analysis is to build and expand the reference database (DB).
Military technology
2022 LAPDIS
The LAPDIS (Local Air Picture Display) application is designed for presentation of target data provided by surveillance sensors on a map background. LAPDIS is typically used by a VERA-NG operator for situational awareness of activity of targets or by the user of the Multilateration Surveillance System for checking of MSS performance.
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