The radar, which has been in continuous service for more than 23 years, provides air traffic controllers with essential information on the range and bearing of aircraft and covers up to 200 nautical miles from Hong Kong.

Photos show: (from left) The existing Route Surveillance Radar at Mount Parker; the antenna of the radar; and the equipment room.

"With such a long usage, the system is deteriorated to such an extent that frequent and expensive maintenance is required to upkeep its performance at an acceptable level," said the Assistant Director-General of Civil Aviation (Engineering & Systems), Mr Leung Woon-yin.

"Furthermore, as the concerned radar type has been out of production for over a decade, spare parts have become difficult to obtain, with a long delivery time sometimes up to 18 months. It would make better economic sense to replace than to repair and maintain it." Mr Leung added.

"The most challenging task for this new radar replacement project is to minimise the outage of the radar services within four months, during which numerous activities including dismantling of the existing radar and its antenna as well as the radome, refurbishment works for the entire equipment station and installation and testing of the new RSR will have to be executed," said Mr Leung.

"The project team has confidence to complete this challenging task on schedule, by proper planning and close monitoring of the tight replacement programme." added Mr Leung.

The project was approved by the Legislative Council Finance Committee in 2001, with a commitment of $104.7 million.

"The new RSR, which will incorporate the latest state-of-the-art technology and design, will enhance system stability and reliability, as well as target detection capability. It is hoped that the new system will become operational by end 2003." Mr. Leung concluded.