Story ID: 
Australia Proposes Free ADS-B Avionics
By: AIN Staff
Caption: As an example of how ADS-B installation will work abroad, the Australian government and Airservices Australia, the country’s privatized ATC provider, propo
Word Count: 174
As an example of how ADS-B installation will work abroad, the Australian government and Airservices Australia, the country’s privatized ATC provider, proposed recently to cover the purchase and installation costs of ADS-B and GNSS avionics in approximately 11,000 Australian-registered aircraft with an mtow of less than 5,700 kg (12,500 pounds) under the nation’s ADS-B transition program. (GNSS covers GPS, Galileo or other satnav systems.) To achieve a rapid transition, all IFR aircraft, as well as VFR aircraft currently required to carry ATC transponders, must be equipped with ADS-B OUT and a TSO C-146 GNSS receiver by mid-2012. VFR aircraft currently required to carry only VHF must carry ADS-B OUT and a C-145 GNSS receiver by mid-2014. Equipment replaced remains the owners’ property. Installation of an eventual 39 ADS-B ground stations is under way, with most en route radars set for decommissioning after 2012 and roughly half the country’s VORs and NDBs after 2014. The ADS-B plan, now out for public comment, describes the avionics financing as “revenue neutral,” since its cost would be offset by decommissioning savings.