Close/intra-formation positioning collision avoidance system and method

A passive intra-formation positioning collision avoidance system for a transponder-equipped host aircraft, the system comprising:

• a data link transponder, said transponder generating broadcast data, the broadcast data comprising aircraft position;
• and
• a traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) computer in communication with said transponder for receiving and processing the broadcast data from said transponder;
• a mission computer unit in communication with said TCAS computer, wherein said mission computer unit receives the broadcast data from said TCAS computer and generates steering commands based on the broadcast data;
• and
• a communication link in communication with said mission computer to transmit the steering commands to at least one other transponder-equipped aircraft for processing, the at least one other transponder-equipped aircraft being responsive to the steering commands to position itself with respect to the host aircraft.