This is what the newly launched Digital Tower Technology Coalition is trying to achieve. In April of this year, the Coalition announced its goal and steps to achieve this target. Their stated role is to advance the implementation of digital and remote tower technology across the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). Members of the coalition include U.S. airports, regional partners, air traffic controllers, original equipment manufacturers, and federal partners.
“I’m excited to see the formation of the Digital Tower Technology Coalition, which represents a bold commitment to innovation across the National Airspace System,” said Richard Kennington of Rinaldi Consultants. “Digital tower technology delivers immense cost saving benefits while enhancing safety, supporting long-term growth, and extending reliable air traffic services to communities of all sizes. From major hubs to the smallest zip codes, this technology strengthens access to safe and sustainable air travel nationwide. It has the potential to be one of the most transformative advancements to the NAS since the introduction of automation, redefining how we manage, connect, and protect America’s skies.”
It’s all about timing
The timing at the moment is something akin to a perfect storm – legislative support, new funding opportunities and the need for enhanced safety in the NAS. Digital towers are not a new topic in the United States. In fact, the first testing began in early 2000, with Saab setting up an FAA testbed in Virginia. This was actually deemed a failure and the technology was removed. It wouldn’t be fair to say the technology was a failure, but the timing for such a solution was. It’s all about timing.
First steps in 2024 – The FAA Reauthorization Act 2024, Section 621 includes remote tower language. Congress was essentially telling the FAA that it was time to move beyond limited experimentation and start building a pathway toward implementation. The guidelines provided a great kick-start to move forward, but if you look back on the language, the momentum is still behind the original intent.
What is happening is that the FAA is putting real funding behind deployments, engaging airports directly, and starting to define what operational integration could look like. Where the FAA still has work to do is speed and clarity. The industry is looking for a more defined roadmap around certification timelines, procurement strategy, and how remote towers will ultimately fit into the broader NAS architecture. The momentum is clearly improving, but the next challenge will be turning congressional authorisation into a repeatable national deployment strategy rather than a series of individual projects.
The White House joins the movement with One Big Beautiful Bill – Signed in July, 2025 the Bill allocates $12.5 billion for a massive overhaul of the NAS, including $50 million specifically dedicated to advancing “remote” digital towers. The remote tower initiative is part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Brand New Air Traffic Control System (BNATCS).
FAA Flight Plan 2026 – Released earlier this year, has a stated goal of the deployment of digital remote tower technology at the first key site.
Remote Tower Systems (RTS) for the National Airspace System (NAS) RFP – The FAA released an RFP in April of this year calling for proposals to spend part of that $50 million mentioned above. Airports have until the end of May to apply.
The good news is it all seems to be coming together from a legislative and funding perspective.
What’s the bad news?
The FAA System Design Approval (SDA) process is the formal certification required for digital or remote air traffic control tower (RTS) systems before they can operate in the NAS. This is an expensive, long and cumbersome process aimed at ensuring the utmost aviation safety. What’s needed to do this?
1. Concept and Requirement Validation – The FAA evaluates the digital system’s underlying concepts against Operational Visual Requirements (OVRs).
2. Centralized Testing and Evaluation – The FAA now mandates that all vendor systems be tested and evaluated at the William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC) in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
3. Safety and Architecture Analyses – Vendors must submit rigorous safety artifacts explaining how the digital tower handles integrity and continuity.
4. Operational Evaluation – Once the system passes technical safety and integration standards in the New Jersey testbed, it undergoes real-world operational evaluation to ensure it can safely handle Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and Class D airspace tasks.
5. System Design Approval (SDA) & Commissioning – If a system satisfies all FAA requirements, the vendor receives the System Design Approval.
At this point, airports are able to commission the SDA solution for use in their facilities. To date, Frequentis USA is the only vendor nearing SDA approval.
Rays of hope
The Digital Tower Technology Coalition is working with the FAA and lobbyists to try and expedite this process in order to bring more vendor solutions into the mix and as a result deploy more digital towers in the NAS. There are proven global successes of this solution in other geographies around the world. Why can’t these real-life deployments go toward the SDA process without re-inventing everything in the New Jersey lab? This is a question they are asking and hoping to get some momentum in order to shorten the cost and timeline for the SDA process.
Digital towers not only increase safety in locations which currently have no ATC tower in place, they also have the opportunity to bring economic development to airports that are currently underutilised. They can also be implemented in airports that have physical tower solutions but are dealing with blind spots.
The Coalition is working to be an advocate for the airports who need a solution and the vendors who want to offer one.
