EMMA KELLY / LONDON
Honeywell has won a contract from Airservices Australia to supply an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) ground station and avionics for a trial next year. The project could pave the way for the nationwide deployment of the technology by the end of the decade.
Airservices Australia issued a tender for the provision of ADS-B equipment earlier this year for a trial to be conducted in the Burnett Basin, around Bundaberg, Queensland (Flight International, 8-14 May). The ADS-B equipment will provide radar-like surveillance for separation services, with the ground station to be connected to the Australian Advanced Air Traffic System (TAAATS).
Honeywell was selected from eight bidders to provide ground and aircraft equipment, and will supply a single duplicated ground station and 17 avionics kits, comprising the Bendix/King Mode S transponder connected to a KLN94 global positioning system navigator, says Greg Dunstone, Airservices Australia ADS-B project manager.
The company has selected the 1090MHz squitter as the ADS-B link technology. The ground station will be manufactured by Sensis, Australian firm Ambidji will provide installation support services and Chapman Avionics will conduct avionics installations. Thales ATM has received a separate contract to update TAAATS to integrate ADS-B.
The original trial plans called for 17 regional and general aviation aircraft to test the equipment, including Flight West Airlines British Aerospace Jetstream 32s, Sunstate Airlines Bombardier Dash 8s and Shorts360-300s, Queensland Ambulance Service Cessna 404s and 414s, and the Royal Flying Doctor Service's Raytheon Beech King Air. The revived Flight West will not be part of the trial as it no longer operates in the Burnett Basin. The aircraft to be equipped will be selected by owners over the next few months, says Dunstone.
The ADS-B ground station will be supplied by mid-2002, TAAATS upgrades will follow by September and avionics availability is expected by October, with the trial to start in early 2003. The project is intended to allow the air navigation service provider to make a decision on ADS-B deployment in the rest of the country.
Airservices Australia is already discussing roll-out strategies with airlines, Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority, air traffic controllers and avionics suppliers. "There is time pressure because we want to avoid the need to replace our secondary surveillance radars and perhaps use ADS-B instead when they reach the end of their life in 2008. We need to make a decision as soon as we have confidence in the viability of proceeding down this path," says Dunstone.
Source: Flight International
