We can't comply, it's too expensive!

[saber25]

"The Air Force will not make the FAA's 2020 deadline for ADS-B equipage and will likely ask for exceptions to the rule for some of its aircraft. According to Defense News, Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes, the deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements, told the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee last week that it doesn't have the $4.4 billion it needs to equip every aircraft in its inventory. Navy, Army and other Pentagon-owned aircraft will add about $1.2 billion to that bill. Holmes blamed sequestration cuts for the funding shortfall and said that without some kind of waiver for unequipped aircraft, the 2020 deadline will result in increased expense and decreased efficiency for the Air Force as those aircraft avoid the controlled airspace that mandate the technology. "We'll be able to move the airplanes where we need to go to serve the country, but with some delay and with some higher fuel costs if we have to drive around an area to get where we need to go," Holmes said.
To make the most of the funding it does have, the Air Force is scrambling to install ADS-B in all its C-130s and C-17s because they're the most likely to need FAA ATC services. He specifically mentioned the F-22 as a platform that won't get the avionics upgrade in time. Subcommittee Chairman Randy Forbes, R-Va., told the hearing that the current budget for avionics upgrades is clearly inadequate. "I'm concerned that our military aircraft could be shut out of the airspace they need for transit and training," he said."

I'll be doing the same as the Air Force... simply avoid those areas that require ADS-B. I can't afford nor want a system that records every move I make. So much for the freedom of flight.


Cheers, Hans

[DanH]

Gotta maintain perspective...an ADS-B unit for the F-22 is probably, what, $6 million per airplane? <g>

[martymayes]

Ya think the airlines plan to comply?

[CraigCantwell]

Not so hard to install and integrate on something the size of a C-130 or larger. Now move down to the F-16/, F/A -18/22, F-35 size and with the increased complexity of fitting a new box and the systems integration and it's an different thing. Because ADS-B is an rf emitter system, the integration work is massive coupled with the necessary EMI/RFI shielding requirements. It would be no fun if the ADS box suddenly decided to squirt data and the weapons system understood it to be a salvo order.

[Derswede]

Hmmmm....I'd worry about someone coming up with a way to track your stealth bird with this. "Hey, where did that missile come from??" type of scenario.

Derswede

[combahee]

They would simply turn it off in civilian or hostile airspace.
To equip my aircraft it is around $6,000.00 so far I have $127.93 set aside in my budget, so I guess I'll ask for 8 more years as well.
If the Air Force gets an exemption then they won't show up on our ADS-B in so we are no better than we were yesterday. I live, work and fly in a MOA. What do they expect me to do? They are already running into our little planes already!

[eidemc]

This purely a self-inflicted wound caused by the services immense bureaucracy. Nearly all of the modern planes will already have Mode-S transponder installed. And they all will already have a GPS receiver. The only thing remaining is to update the software in the transponder to output the ADS-B messages. This not a technically difficult task, but it will be made nearly impossible by never-ending specification reviews, committee meetings, program reorganizations and counterproductive tests.

[CraigCantwell]

This not a technically difficult task, but it will be made nearly impossible by never-ending specification reviews, committee meetings, program reorganizations and counterproductive tests.

Sorry, but you haven't got a clue how current IFF systems in military aircraft work. It's not just upload some new software and go flying and hope for the best. With the integration between so many systems, there is a rigid test methodology to make sure the changes work as planned and have no EMI/RFI issues or unintended interactions with all the other systems on the aircraft.

[jethro99]

Gotta maintain perspective...an ADS-B unit for the F-22 is probably, what, $6 million per airplane? <g>

Only if Lockheed does not do the installation and integration. If Lockheed gets the modification contract it will be more like $36 million per airplane.

Remember, Lockheed bailed out of the commercial airplane market to be more into the lucrative government airplane market. They are doing real well.

[steve]

Lemme get this straight, the USAF, funded by you and I, doesn't have the money to comply with the ADS-B mandate by 2020 and will keep on flying through A,B and C airspace, basically telling the FAA to pound sand. Yet we can't fly in the current airspace if our personal planes aren't suitably equipped?
Where's my EAA rep in DC when we need him? I think everyone should get a pass on this.