I have read the blurb on the AsA website.
ADS-B in is not mandated/subsidised only ADS-B out. A TCAD fit for a typical GA light aircraft is about USD20k++...I have no reason to suspect 'in' will be lot cheaper...even if it is 1/2 TCAD it will still be USD10k.
ADS-B for GA will be purely a surveilance tool.
Don't get me wrong...satellite based ATM is the way of the future...but why the (seeming) undue haste?
I get the feeling the are trying to sell us something quickly so they can decommission some radars in the next cycle of scheduled replacement rather than the one after that. It has a 'NAS2b' feel about it....rushing it in shouting it's benefits from the roof tops and hoping people don't ask too many difficult questions.
After the first 28 stations are commissioned the low level ADS-B coverage will be sparse to say the least.
What is the time frame and how many stations required to extend ADS-B down to levels where the GA aircraft they are mandating fitment operate...<8000'?
What will ADS-B give those few aircraft that wil have 'in' (eventually), High end/regional turboprops and jets, that they dont get now from TCAS?
The requirement for turbine carrying more than x passengers to carry TCAS going to be withdrawn?
Why do I need to know where aircraft that cannot effect my operation, because they are outside the range of my TCAS, are?
If ADS-B is not going to have any effect on capital city terminal airspace capacity, because of noise sharing/runway constraints that ADS-B cannot address, and the enroute airspace in Australia is not crowded as is that in the US/EU why the rush?
One of the drivers, if not THE driver, for the FAA's move to satellite based ATM is they have convinced themselves that their airspace is going to be inundated with many 1000s of VLJs...the way the US economy is going that very much remains to be seen...and who cares anyway it won't effect Australia...we might see 20. The US probably has a real need even without 1000s of VLJs but they are not rushing in mandating everything capable of sustained flight has ADS-B within 5 years...why are we?
Why don't we just wait and see what Australia needs rather than base decisions on what countries with truly busy airspace feel they need?
Australia has such a tiny aviation industry compared to the US/EU/Asia etc...the last thing we need to be doing is behaving like trendsetters in this area.
What imperative does mandatory ADS-B out in GA answer?