Government/Military Trends
Safe Flight 21
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Safe Flight 21 is a three-year joint government/industry initiative to develop enhanced capabilities for Free Flight based on evolving Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) technologies. (Free Flight is a new operational concept whereby aircraft no longer need to follow a structured airway based on traditional navigation systems.) Safe Flight 21 will demonstrate an in-cockpit display of traffic, weather, and terrain information for pilots. This program uses Global Positioning System (GPS), Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), Flight Information Services-Broadcast (FIS-B), and Traffic Information Services-Broadcast (TIS-B) technologies, and their integration with enhanced pilot and controller information displays.
Safe Flight 21 is expected to demonstrate the following nine Free Flight operational enhancements selected by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA):
- Weather and Other Information in the Cockpit
- Cost-Effective Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) Avoidance
- Improved Terminal Operations in Low Visibility
- Enhanced See and Avoid
- Enhanced En Route Air-to-Air Operations
- Improved Surface Navigation for the Pilot
- Enhanced Surface Surveillance for the Controller
- ADS-B Surveillance in Non-Radar Airspace
- ADS-B Separation Standards
The Safe Flight 21 program will address safety, efficiency, capacity, certification, pilot/controller situational awareness, human factors, spectrum, and affordability issues over the course of demonstrating these nine operational enhancements. The program will also demonstrate and quantify operational benefits, demonstrate capabilities, improve procedures, and collect data on the performance of three candidate digital links: Mode Select (Mode S) Extended Squitter, Universal Access Transceiver (UAT), and VHF Data Link (VDL) Mode 4.
ADS-B technology will provide the means for air and ground vehicles to broadcast and receive ADS-B messages via a digital link containing information on: aircraft or vehicle identification, position, altitude, velocity, and direction. The receiving aircraft's avionics can use ADS-B information, combined with its own GPS location, to generate a map depicting all targets sending out ADS-B information. ADS-B can also be used to provide air traffic controllers with a consolidated picture of the controlled airspace. As a result, enhancements to be demonstrated by the Safe Flight 21 program have the potential to increase capacity at busy airports and in oceanic/non-radar airspace by providing pilots and controllers with necessary information to manage traffic more efficiently.
The Safe Flight 21 program is based on the principle that government and industry will share in the development of a global air transportation system, as we move into the Free Flight era. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is collaborating with RTCA to ensure that the scope, resources, schedule, and execution of the Safe Flight 21 program reflects government/industry consensus.