At the end of March, Airservices Australia (the country’s privatized ATC provider) announced that it had contracted with Thales of France to provide ADS-B ground stations at 28 sites, which would combine with the current coastal ATC radars to provide total surveillance coverage across the nation above 30,000 feet. Installations are forecast to be complete by the end of next year.

Until now, most of Australia’s barren interior–a vast, semi-desert area called the “Outback”–has made manned radar stations impractical, and ATC has depended on a network of unmanned VHF repeater stations, coupled with less efficient procedural separation standards. The unmanned ADS-B stations will provide economical, radar-quality surveillance, with commensurate enhancement in airspace capacity and efficiency.