Hi Rich,
Good to see you in this forum. ATOP is for Oceanic traffic and so far as I know it does nothing that wasn't proposed 30 years ago. Even so, it’s still good to hear about it. At the old ATMDC in Hurn NATS had simulated radar displays for OACC flights and we shouldn’t forget that GPS is essentially the newer version of Transit – The US Navy Navigation Satellite System (NNSS) from 1967. Then FDPS I at Prestwick has been capable of fully automatic operation since it went into service in 1987. NATS just wouldn't let us write the code that pressed the ACCEPT button every time the controller was asked a question. And it was FULLY automatic because OACC operated with an HF outstation, not over VHF. Every piece of information had to go via the computer. Procedural control over the ocean is now a bit of a closed book to many people, even controllers, but it’s every bit as much an art form. This thread overlaps my own on Automation in ATC so do look at my website for more about my proposals. Full automation that involves the human operator in the loop is already working in the real world and I do hope that the controllers at Swanwick don’t have their jobs taken away by an outside ANSP such as Airways New Zealand if they realise how it has to be done first.