Col. Mathew Hannah, project manager of Aviation Systems, Program Executive Office for Aviation, accepts the last of 17 mobile tower systems built by Consumer Fuels, Inc. With Hannah are, from left, CFI employees TJ Byrne, Steve Mitchell, Pam Gardner ...

By the Program Executive Office for Aviation

The last of 17 Mobile Tower Systems was recently delivered to the Program Executive Office for Aviation to complete the Army's modernization of its mobile air traffic control towers.

Col. Mathew Hannah, project manager of Aviation Systems, PEO for Aviation, officially accepted the final Mobile Tower System from contractor Consumer Fuels, Inc., in a delivery ceremony at the CFI facility in Huntsville.

"We are pleased to be able to deliver updated capability to the Soldier, and the fact that we were able to deliver it ahead of schedule and at a reduced cost is a testament to the hard work and dedication of both the ATC team and CFI," Hannah said.

Aviation Systems' Air Traffic Control Product Office oversaw the contract with CFI, which began in November 2015 when CFI was awarded a three-year, firm-fixed-price, Small Business competitive contract for the 17 systems.

The Mobile Tower Systems - known as MOTS - are replacing the current AN/TSW-7A and AN/TSQ-70A mobile towers, originally fielded in the 1960s and 1970s.

MOTS was developed to support the Army's requirement for a modern, mobile air traffic control tower to provide Air Traffic Services across the Joint Operations Area and Theater terminal airspace during full spectrum combat operations. MOTS function on the modern battlefield is to provide combatant commanders with a highly mobile, self-contained, integrated and reliable information system platform for visual and procedural aircraft deconfliction and aircrew force protection in all aspects of airspace environments.