Biblio

Current FAA strategic objectives include a migration to Trajectory Based Operations (TBO) with the integration of time-based management data and tools to increase efficiencies and reduce operating costs within the National Airspace System (NAS). Under TBO, integration across various FAA systems will take on greater importance than ever. To ensure the security of this integration without impacting data and tool availability, the FAA should consider adopting a Zero Trust Framework (ZTF) into the NAS.ZTF was founded on the belief that strong boundary security protections alone (traditionally referred to as the castle-moat approach) were no longer adequate to protecting critical data from outside threats and, with ever-evolving threat sophistication, contamination within a network perimeter is assumed to already exist (see Figure 1).To address this, theorists developed a framework where trust is controlled and applied to all internal network devices, users, and applications in what was termed a "Never Trust; Always Verify" approach to distinguish the authorized from the unauthorized elements wanting to access network data.To secure achievement of TBO objectives and add defensive depth to counter potential insider threats, the FAA must consider implementing a hybrid approach to the ZTF theory. This would include continued use of existing boundary protections provided by the FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) network, with the additional strength afforded by the application of ZTF, in what is called the NAS Zero Trust eXtended (ZTX) platform.This paper discusses a proposal to implement a hybrid ZTX approach to securing TBO infrastructure and applications in the NAS.

The National Airspace System (NAS), as a portion of the US' transportation system, has not yet begun to model or adopt integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. However, users of the NAS, i.e., Air transport operators, UAS operators, etc. are beginning to use this technology throughout their operations. At issue within the broader aviation marketplace, is the continued search for a solution set to the persistent daily delays and schedule perturbations that occur within the NAS. Despite billions invested through the NAS Modernization Program, the delays persist in the face of reduced demand for commercial routings. Every delay represents an economic loss to commercial transport operators, passengers, freighters, and any business depending on the transportation performance. Therefore, the FAA needs to begin to address from an advanced concepts perspective, what this wave of new technology will affect as it is brought to bear on various operations performance parameters, including safety, security, efficiency, and resiliency solution sets. This paper is the first in a series of papers we are developing to explore the application of AI in the National Airspace System (NAS). This first paper is meant to get everyone in the aviation community on the same page, a primer if you will, to start the technical discussions. This paper will define AI; the capabilities associated with AI; current use cases within the aviation ecosystem; and how to prepare for insertion of AI in the NAS. The next series of papers will look at NAS Operations Theory utilizing AI capabilities and eventually leading to a future intelligent NAS (iNAS) environment.