The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean P. Duffy has unveiled a plan to accelerate digitisation and modernisation of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) air traffic control system, replacing core infrastructure to manage modern travel and support emerging entrants. “We have a system that is built for the past, we are proposing a system built for the future,” Duffy said on May 8. Although advanced air mobility airspace users are mentioned in passing in the outline proposals there is little direct mention of lower-airspace CNS/ATM equipment planning.
The full DOT proposal notes that the Federal aviation Administration “needs greater technology investment to better accommodate increasing commercial space launch and reentry activity and unmanned aircraft systems activity, while ensuring the US aviation system remains the safest in the world for the flying public, and globally competitive.”
The plan includes investment in ADS-B in the Caribbean to support general aviation, tourism and emerging technologies like drones.
“Investing in ADS-B in the Caribbean is vital for the FAA to enhance aviation safety and efficiency in a region with limited radar coverage, busy international flight corridors, and challenging geography,” said the report. “ADSB’s satellite-based tracking provides precise, real-time aircraft surveillance over remote oceanic areas, enabling safer routing, reduced aircraft separation, and improved search and rescue capabilities. It’s cost effective, requiring smaller, cheaper ground stations than radar, and supports general aviation, tourism driven economies, and emerging technologies like drones.”
Some of the key technology improvements include:
- New controller support tools. “The critical voice switch replacement program will be fully supported, providing controllers with a more flexible, VoIP-based communication system…Additional funding would allow for Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM) to be
deployed at additional airport sites.” - A common automation platform to replace the Standard Terminal Automation
Replacement System (STARS) and En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) “to address the
inefficiencies, high costs, and integration challenges posed by these disparate, aging systems, which struggle to support the growing complexity of the NAS.” - The FAA’s urgent transition from Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) to Internet Protocol (IP) on its FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) network is essential to safeguard the National Airspace System
- Airport control tower modernisation acceleration. “Currently, the FAA replaces, on
average, one control tower per year among the 377 FAA-owned towers in the agency’s inventory, resulting in a staggering 300-year timeline for full replacement. The agency’s aim is to significantly expedite this process, reducing the replacement timeline to a far more practical 80 years, which translates to replacing 4 to 5 towers annually. “
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New ATC Plan at the US Department of Transportation
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