A Navy program office headquartered at Naval Air Station Patuxent River has finished producing the last of a new generation of precision approach radars, closing out a procurement effort that already reached the local base itself last year.
The Naval Air Traffic Management Systems Program Office, known as PMA-213 and based at NAS Patuxent River in St. Mary’s County, completed production of the final AN/FPN-68A radar this month, according to a Navy release. The system replaces the AN/FPN-63, a radar that dates back to 1978, and gives air traffic controllers precise real-time data on an aircraft’s distance, direction, and elevation — information the Navy says is critical for safely guiding pilots to the runway when weather, smoke, or low visibility make it hard to see. “This system’s advanced precision and digital technology play a significant role in enhancing air traffic control and pilot safety, especially in challenging weather,” said Capt. Walter B. “Beau” Massenburg Jr., PMA-213’s program manager.
Pax River isn’t just where the program is managed — it’s also one of the bases that already has the new hardware installed. The Chronicle reported in January that NAS Patuxent River received its own AN/FPN-68 unit last summer, the 23rd installation of the system Navy-wide, giving local air traffic controllers direct use of the same upgrade the program just finished producing for the rest of the fleet. Massenburg credited the Shore Air Traffic Management Team and other personnel with fielding the new systems without disrupting flight operations along the way.
The modernization effort began in June 2019 with the first installation at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, and is scheduled to finish fielding — meaning every legacy FPN-63 will be retired — in 2027. A portion of the radars produced are also being sent to allied nations through the Foreign Military Sales program, intended to keep U.S. and coalition forces operating under the same precision recovery standards during joint deployments. With production complete, the program shifts into a long-term sustainment phase managed jointly with the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific.
The radar program is one piece of a much larger portfolio PMA-213 oversees from Patuxent River. When Massenburg took command of the office in August 2023, he inherited responsibility for 71 separate air traffic management and combat identification systems with a combined budget of roughly $4 billion, according to the Navy. NAS Patuxent River itself serves as the Navy’s principal aircraft and systems test center, hosting NAVAIR headquarters and the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, and employs thousands of people who drive a significant share of economic activity across Southern Maryland.
