Definition
Ground-based air traffic control equipment that receives signals from aircraft transponders responding to a secondary surveillance radar interrogation, then processes those signals into the data tags controllers see on their radar displays — including aircraft identification, altitude, and beacon code.
Plain English
The ATC computer system that turns transponder replies from aircraft into the labeled targets a controller sees on screen.
Context Anchor
Seen in aviation acronym lists, facility status notices, and technical discussions about radar or air traffic control equipment.
Derivation
Each word is descriptive: 'radar beacon' refers to the transponder system (the airborne 'beacon' that replies to radar interrogation), and 'data processing equipment' is the ground hardware and software that turns those replies into usable information. Together: the gear that processes radar beacon data.
Why Pilots Care
When you set a squawk code or altitude reporting on your transponder, the RBDPE is what decodes those replies and presents your flight as an identified, altitude-tagged target to the controller. If your transponder fails or is set incorrectly, the controller loses that processed data tag.
Intuition Check
Do not read “beacon” here as the rotating airport light. In this term, the beacon is the aircraft’s electronic reply signal used by radar-based ATC systems.
Example Sentence 1
The controller's data block — showing callsign, altitude, and groundspeed — is generated by the RBDPE from the aircraft's transponder replies.
Example Sentence 2
Maintenance of the RBDPE ensures reliable secondary radar coverage during busy traffic periods.