FreeFlight Fields 5G-resilient Radar Altimeters

The FAA has approved the supplement type certificate (STC) for the installation of the FreeFlight Systems RA-4500 MK II radar altimeter in Airbus AS350 and Bell 407 helicopters. The RA-4500 MK II is 5G-resilient and also meets the FAA’s corresponding alternate methods of compliance for AD 2023-11-07 regarding radio altimeter tolerance in the 5G C-band environment.

As a member of the FreeFlight Terrain series 5G-resilient radar altimeter family, the RA-4500 MK II features “advanced RF filtering to help rotorcraft operators maintain reliable, high-fidelity agl radar altitude performance in today’s changing RF environment,” according to the company.

The installation package includes documentation, STC drawing information, rotorcraft flight manual supplement, and alternate methods of compliance (AMOC) letters.

FreeFlight will support continued upgrades to the RA-4500 MK II as minimum interference-tolerance performance criteria evolve, the company said.

“The 5G era has made radar altimeter performance a front-and-center operational issue for rotorcraft operators, and the RA-4500 MK II reflects that reality,” said FreeFlight Systems president Anthony Rios. “Its all-new digital design provides rotorcraft operators with high-integrity radar altitude performance, including low-level operations and RF-dense environments.”