The aging U.S. air traffic control infrastructure is overdue for an upgrade and the FAA has selected the company to do it, naming Peraton to lead the overhaul of the system.
On Dec. 4, 2025, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford announced this key step in developing what the agency calls the “Brand New Air Traffic Control System.”
Starting with $12.5 billion in federal funds from this year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the FAA says this initial investment enables them and Peraton to begin replacing critical National Airspace System components—telecommunications networks, radar systems, software, and physical facilities supporting air traffic controllers around the nation.
Reston, VA-based Peraton has grown into a key government contractor through acquisitions now spanning national security, cyber, defense, and federal IT sectors. Their record of managing complex technology programs matched the FAA’s need for a single integrator to handle large-scale modernization.
FAA Administrator Bedford said in a statement that the agency aims to make the U.S. ATC system “the envy of the world.” However, more funding is needed; Duffy has said he wants an additional $19-$20 billion from Congress to reach the project’s finish line.
Peraton starts work immediately. Early FAA priorities include replacing remaining copper-wire backbone with fiber, creating a digital command center for network operations, purchasing new radar systems and designing next-gen facilities for the new architecture.
Leaking Roofs and Floppy Disks
A 2023 report said the FAA’s communications system has been outdated for years and the agency can no longer get spare parts for many systems.
It detailed aging FAA air traffic control facilities with leaking roofs, broken heating and air conditioning systems and old surveillance radar systems that must soon be replaced at a cost of billions of dollars.
Of the FAA’s 138 air traffic control telecoms systems, 51 were unsustainable, a separate report said last year.
The FAA’s appointment of Peraton as sole integrator aims to tighten modernization coordination. Peraton will manage engineering, acquisition, testing and deployment, while FAA officials monitor progress.
The contract links Peraton’s profit to performance metrics with penalties for delays, designed to maintain schedule adherence and alignment with broader modernization objectives.
Chris Sununu, CEO of Airlines for America, praised the effort in a statement.
“It is past time to eradicate antiquated floppy disks, copper wires and paper strips and replace them with smarter, more efficient 21st-century equipment and technology,” Sununu said.
The system overhaul will be completed in three years to “reduce outages, improve efficiency, reinforce safety, and support future growth of the national airspace,” the Transportation Department said in a statement.
The FAA’s $15-billion “Next Gen” project to overhaul air traffic control, begun more than two decades ago, has faced numerous delays, cost overruns and is less ambitious than initially envisioned, a report showed in October.
Peraton, a young but quickly consolidated federal contractor formed in 2017 through Veritas Capital’s acquisition of Harris Corporation’s government services, now leads a multibillion-dollar national infrastructure program. Its 2021 acquisitions of Northrop Grumman’s IT services and Perspecta Inc. made it a top federal systems integrator with the scale and engineering capabilities the FAA said it required.
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