February is a crucial month for the US Federal Aviation Administration's plans to deploy automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast (ADS-B) nationwide as the enabler for its next-generation air transport system.
Teams led by ITT, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon hope to hear this week that they have qualified to bid for the contract to provide ADS-B services, after responding to the FAA's information request at the end of January. Selection of the eligible bidders, and a final decision on investment in nationwide ADS-B deployment, will clear the way for the request for offers in March.
After years of dithering, the FAA is moving ahead rapidly with plans to deploy ADS-B, but whether operators will embrace the technology as readily remains to be seen. Their response so far seems to be "yes, but", with industry associations saying they support the concept, but need a more detailed understanding of both the operational benefits and costs of equipage.
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Displayed on an EFB in UPS's 757, ADS-B data shows (left) UPS4 being instructed to merge behind and follow UPS2(in green), then actively manage its speed. |
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Phased approach
The FAA, meanwhile, is taking a phased approach to deploying ADS-B, dividing the programme into segments that begin by expanding existing pockets of coverage and rely on voluntary avionics equipage until both infrastructure and regulations are in place to enable nationwide service and 100% avionics equipage. The FAA wants the infrastructure in place by 2013, all aircraft equipped by 2020, and its surveillance radars removed by 2023.
The ADS-B contract winner will install and operate the ground infrastructure and provide broadcast services for subscribers. These are the traffic information service - broadcast (TIS-B), which provides ADS-B-equipped aircraft with secondary-radar position reports on non-ADS-B aircraft and the flight information service - broadcast (FIS-B), which sends graphical weather and airspace data to the aircraft.
The FAA will pay for Segment 1, but after a three-year development period the contractor will be allowed to introduce "subscription" charges. At that time, in 2010, the FAA plans to exercise options to deploy the rest of the ADS-B infrastructure, but this will be done at the expense of the contractor, with nationwide subscription charges to begin in 2013 after a three-year deployment period.
Segment 1 locations will include Juneau in Alaska, where ADS-B is already in routine use under the Capstone programme the Gulf of Mexico for offshore-support helicopter operations and key airports used by ADS-B proponent UPS Airlines. Existing pockets of coverage will spread westwards from the US East Coast into the Great Lakes region, and from Phoenix and Prescott Arizona into California
Dual track approach
The FAA's approach is also dual track, with deployment of the infrastructure running in parallel with development of the regulations necessary to enable ADS-B to replace radar surveillance. The infrastructure track leads to an "in-service decision" and go-ahead for national deployment in September 2010, while the regulatory track gets to the separation standards and final rule for avionics equipage in 2009.
Milestones include initial operating capability (IOC) for broadcast services at key sites by July 2008 approval of terminal-area separation standards at Louisville by June 2009, and en-route standards for the Gulf of Mexico by July 2009 and IOC for both surveillance and broadcast services at Louisville in October 2009 and Philadelphia in February 2010.
Avionics equipage remains a concern, as the transition to ADS-B will require fleet-wide installation of either a multi-mode receiver with GPS and Galileo, a satellite-based augmentation system like WAAS, or tightly coupled GPS/inertial navigation. An avionics "tiger team" has concluded airlines will need a guarantee of reduced separations, for increased airspace capacity, to make the business case to equip.
Source: Flight International
