AI activity, recent developments and the evidence in one place.
On 21 September 2026 the FAA began using SMART, its Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories platform, in a limited mode in the airspace around Washington, D.C. The agency plans to expand it gradually.
SMART pulls together 200 data streams through what the FAA calls an AI-supported engine. The FAA is clear that it cannot replace air traffic controllers.
Up to 612 legacy radars are to be replaced by June 2028 under contracts with RTX and Indra, the FAA announced on 5 January 2026. Replacements were scheduled to begin that quarter. RTX put the value of its award at USD 438 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded Indra a contract worth up to USD 244.3 million, if all options are taken up, to replace legacy UHF and VHF air-ground radios, GovCon Wire reported on 28 August 2024.
Indra's own announcement on 6 November 2024 said the contract covers up to 46,000 radios plus ten years of support and maintenance, and that it would move production of its Park Air radios for the US market to Overland Park, Kansas.
Live data from the Aerostack register. Status reflects published evidence only. See Our approach for how records are graded.
Aerostack tracks AI deployments across airports and airlines, with the published evidence behind each record. Photography is real aviation imagery. Record thumbnails may show the named airport or airline; other photographs do not.