CAT III technology has been around since the 70's (heyday of the Whispering T-Jet BTW
) CAT III was originally flown by BAC111's and Tridents for heavens sake (also T-Jets but not cool like the 9 & the 72!)
Whispering T-Jet,
As a matter of some historic interest, despite all the development work done in UK, the first type certified for Cat. 111 with a UK carrier was the L1011 Tristar ---- beat the DH Tridents into service.
Tootle pip!!