Better yet how about one satellite failure, or a waring country takes out our satellite, leaving the aircraft on their own, without controller guidance.
Current radar sends out a radio signal that reflects off an aircraft. That raw return or reflection to the radar antenna is interpolated and displayed on the controllers screen. In the case of national security, controllers are monitoring the radar 24-7, for suspicious radar tracks. ADS-b requires that each aircraft have equipment that receives a signal from the the ground radio, adds its unique id(to identify itself) and other info like altitude. Many things can go wrong. The aircraft must have the equipment. It must be working. It must be on. It must be calibrated. The altimeter in the aircraft must be set. What about international flights, will we require them to equip? In this case of national security, a pilot would only have to turn off or disable the ADS-b to evade detection. You also have to question the FAA's costs for this system. Is it just for their piece of the puzzle or will they pay for the equipment in each and every aircraft? That $40B could easily double. ADS-b does have value however. In portions of the country like Alaska were terrain blocks radar coverage, ADS-b is proven to provide aircraft and controllers with the information they need for safety.
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Better yet how about one satellite failure, or a waring country takes out our satellite, leaving the aircraft on their own, without controller guidance.
Current radar sends out a radio signal that reflects off an aircraft. That raw return or reflection to the radar antenna is interpolated and displayed on the controllers screen. In the case of national security, controllers are monitoring the radar 24-7, for suspicious radar tracks. ADS-b requires that each aircraft have equipment that receives a signal from the the ground radio, adds its unique id(to identify itself) and other info like altitude. Many things can go wrong. The aircraft must have the equipment. It must be working. It must be on. It must be calibrated. The altimeter in the aircraft must be set. What about international flights, will we require them to equip? In this case of national security, a pilot would only have to turn off or disable the ADS-b to evade detection. You also have to question the FAA's costs for this system. Is it just for their piece of the puzzle or will they pay for the equipment in each and every aircraft? That $40B could easily double. ADS-b does have value however. In portions of the country like Alaska were terrain blocks radar coverage, ADS-b is proven to provide aircraft and controllers with the information they need for safety.