If your ‘aviation interest’ is insufficient to inspire you to monitor more
authoritative sources than USA Today, your reporting is condemned to be as
spotty and non precise as theirs.
The mandate just issued is for ADS-B OUT by 2020 in all aircraft operating in
airspace where a transponder is required today. You may not know exactly what
that means (and in fairness, many pilots may be rusty on this as well), but
they will simply look it up, which is what you should do as well if you’re
willing to go beyond USA Today. This requirement, by the way, is the first
implementation mandate for the system you dismissed as fiction only a few days
ago.
As for VOR’s, the FAA NextGen roadmap clearly indicates a decommissioning of
this system. They do not appear to share your concern that the satellite
system is 'easily jammed' and they are unlikely to consult with you before
decommissioning the VOR’s.
In article ,
says...
See
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/fligh...rol28_ST_N.htm
I assume by "commercial" airspace they mean areas like Class A-B or A-C.
And by "GPS" they appear to mean not just GPS but ADS-B.
The article doesn't say which private aircraft will be expected to install
this equipment, but the deadline is 2020.
I hope the government will not use this as an excuse to decommission VORs.
VORs are the only back-up for a satellite system that is easily jammed or
spoofed (unless you have an INS, but there aren't too many small
single-engine
aircraft so equipped).