Folks,
What is being missed, in all this, is that neither FAA nor EASA are mandating ADS-B OUT for the greater percentage of IFR operation in light aircraft --- "light aircraft" being aircraft that don't exceed 250kt IAS, or operate above 10,000 AMSL.
We had the spectacle of Skidmore, at Senate Estimates this week, extolling the "safety" virtues of ever widening surveillance of an ever widening range of aircraft.
In almost the same breath, he was unable to answer a simple question from WA Senator Glen Sterle, who wanted an explanation of why, if ADS-B was so essential for safety, why some VARA aircraft had been given long term exemptions for carrying ADS-B, and was this a commercial decision overriding a safety matter.
Of course, in risk management terms, the exemptions are entirely reasonable, but Skidmore could not explain to the good Senator (and apparently his EM Airports and Airways couldn't either) that those aircraft will operate with greater separation without ADS-B, so there is no reduction in separation assurance.
It was certainly a bravura performance by CASA.
It is reported, second hand, that Skidmore has even remarked that "all aircraft should have ADS-B". Given his performance this week, (and his approach to the CVD matter) I can believe it. No safety case, not the slightest suggestion of cost/benefit justification, just ill-informed opinion that would not wash in an aeroclub discussion on a Friday evening.
Questions from the Senators about whether ADS-B had been subject of a safety case, or just imposed on the aviation community, made some people on the CASA "bench" very uncomfortable, of course it wasn't answered --- we all know that there never was a credible one, and one of the intended "side effects" of the ADS-B mandate was the effective mandating of C-145/146 GPS upgrades by stealth.
It is the upgrade to C-145/147 (not ADS-B) that has enabled ASA to pull out navaids, saving a fortune for ASA, at the cost of transferring huge costs onto the aircraft owning/operating community, across the board.
None of the major airlines have yet been able to show any return, let alone a commercial return on their not inconsiderable investment in ADS-B.
Tootle pip!!