Europe To Require ADS-B Avionics Five Years Sooner than FAA

With new mandate, Europeans press ahead with key aircraft surveillance tool

The European Commission is proposing that ADS-B “out” avionics be installed on airline aircraft and business jets five years earlier than the FAA’s plan. Full airborne coverage in Europe will let any nation there move ahead with ground infrastructure at will.

The directive on Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast—scheduled for release on Oct. 31—calls for aircraft to have the extended squitter feature on Mode S transponders for ADS‑B “out” transmission by 2015, says Alex Wandels, Eurocontrol’s manager of the Cascade program, which is leading the implementation of ADS-B.

This Thales ADS-B sensor is installed at the Diagoras Airport near Rhodes, Greece. Credit: EUROCONTROL

Europe already requires airliners to have Mode S, so most aircraft will need only a software upgrade. In contrast, the FAA’s proposed mandate for ADS-B “out” doesn’t require avionics until 2020.

In the U.S., an industry-government committee that reviewed the ADS-B mandate, and recommended 36 changes, did not take issue with the FAA’s 2020 target date (AW&ST Oct. 6, p. 62). The Air Transport Assn. says the U.S. requirement alone will cost its airline members nearly $700 million.

During the next three months, airlines and other operators will be able to comment on the proposed EC rule, says Wandels. The mandate is expected to call for all aircraft weighing more than 5,700 kg. (12,540 lb.) to have the extended squitter function so they can transmit ADS-B position data to ground controllers over 1090 MHz. The FAA’s mandate specifies that airliners and business jets use 1090 MHz., while general aviation aircraft would use the Universal Access Transceiver on 978 MHz. Ironically, U.S.-registered airliners and bizjets operating to Europe will have to have ADS-B “out” capability by 2015—a requirement that should accelerate the adoption rate in the U.S.

However, in terms of ADS-B ground infrastructure, the European ATC community has taken a less aggressive approach than the U.S., Canada or Australia. The FAA, for example, has set up in southern Florida the first prototype of a new nation-wide ground receiver network. Australia has rolled out ADS-B nationwide, while Canada is moving ahead with its ground-based network. Europe has no plan in effect yet to provide continental coverage with ADS-B systems on the ground, even by 2020, when the single-sky project to modernize ATC is due to be completed. But the EC wants the airborne equipment in place so construction of ground-based networks can proceed.

European nations have 13 ADS-B trials underway; several involve airports with no radar surveillance coverage. ADS-B ground networks have been built at these facilities to accommodate growing traffic from low-cost carriers. These include Trabzon Airport in Turkey, near the Black Sea, Alghero Airport in Sardinia, Italy’s Pescara International Airport and Kiruna Airport in northern Sweden. The Swedish project is using the VHF Mode 4 data link instead of 1090 MHz. as the ADS-B link.

In addition, an ADS-B network covers three Greek airfields close to one another: Diagoras, Karpathos Island National and Kos International airports.

As confidence grows with regard to using ADS-B at these airports that have no radar coverage, other air navigation service providers in Europe will likely start to look seriously at replacing radar with ADS-B, says Wandels. Other organizations involved in ADS-B projects include the U.K., German, Austrian, Spanish and French air navigation service providers.

Meanwhile, Eurocontrol is working with 18 aircraft operators and is providing seed money to help them install new avionics now, instead of waiting for the mandate to take effect. Three of these ADS-B “pioneers”—Air France, Air One and Volkswagen—have just received European Aviation Safety Agency approval to use ADS-B in airspace not covered by radar surveillance. Other carriers involved include SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Ryanair, Air Europa, British Airways, Lufthansa and United Airlines.

Air France has 50 A320 family aircraft in the program, according to Wandels. Air One has 20, and Volkswagen has two Falcon 2000s that it uses for executive transportation. Nav Canada also agreed to accept these EASA approvals as valid for aircraft flying over the Hudson Bay, where an ADS-B ground-based network will become operational this month.

http://www.aviationweek.com