ADS-B TO REPLACE RADAR

Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 01:28 PM ET

Verified

Radar needs grew somewhat haphazardly. Consequently, it's not uncommon for some areas to have multiple radars that largely overlap. For example, the San Francisco Bay area has Center, plus San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose terminals, plus a couple military installations. Obviously, there are candidates for divestiture, but care must be taken to ensure 100 percent coverage remains.

Key Takeaways:

Driven by the proven safety benefits of ADS-B, the FAA's radar divestiture program aims to save approximately $400 million by 2035 through the reduction of redundant radar systems in the National Airspace System.
The process is more complex than initially envisioned, with detailed analyses by FAA and NATCA identifying significantly fewer radars for removal than the original optimistic target of 100+.
Any radar divestiture prioritizes safety through a rigorous multi-step process including in-depth engineering studies, Safety Risk Management, and extensive collaboration with Air Traffic Control (ATC) and NATCA to preserve operational capabilities and ensure site-specific needs are met.

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Capstone, the first large-scale ADSB prototype, was deployed in Alaska in 1999 because Alaska had (and still has) the highest of any state’s aviation accident rate. Despite this challenging environment, by 2006, Capstoneequipped aircraft demonstrated a 47 per cent decline in accident rate compared to non-equipped aircraft in southwest Alaska.

That same year, the FAA integrated Capstone into the national ADS-B program. In 2007, the FAA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for ADSB Out. After discussion and review, the FAA issued its Final Rule in 2010.