Originally Posted by
ATCast
For aircraft above 5.7t MTOM / 250 KTAS Europe is ahead of the US. As said before, there is no schedule for GA.
While I appreciate everyone with Mode S Enhanced be transmitting an accurate position by 2015, I am not sure this is a material step in the movement from SSR to ADS-B as the primary means of providing location data to ATC for separation of aircraft.
It is difficult for me to see the advantage of moving to ADS-B for separation of aircraft over 5.7 tonnes and staying with SSR for less than 5.7 tonnes. As I understand the US position is that in 2020 ATC will use ADS-B instead of SSR and everyone with a transponder will need to be ADS-B out equipped. There will clearly remain a need for primary radar for security and maybe for providing basic lateral tracks for non-transpoinding aircraft. The European 2015 data seems an isolated requirement on an undefined (and probably distant) implementation plan.