FANS 1/A and Satellite Communications
Both Inmarsat and Iridium can be used for FANS 1/A. The Iridium system must be FANS compliant and certified to DO-178B Level D. If your aircraft has an Inmarsat system only Inmarsat Aero H and Aero H+ are approved for FANS, SwiftBroadband and Swift 64 is not approved. An STC is required for installation and operation in the FANS environment along with a LOA (Letter of Authorization) from the FAA or other regulatory agency depending on the country of registration.
Aircraft that are already equipped with Inmarsat Aero H / H+ system can take advantage of existing equipment however it is highly recommended for these aircraft to also have a FANS compliant Iridium system installed as a backup. If one of the SatCom systems fails the other can be used allowing the trip to take place as planned or keep to your aircraft from getting kicked out of FANS airspace.
Mandate for FANS 1/A
The center tracks of the NAT (North Atlantic Track) will be open to FANS 1/A equipped aircraft by the end of 2013, non-equipped aircraft will not be able to use these tracks. In 2015 all NAT's will be FANS only.
Aircraft that are not equipped and operationally approved for FANS 1/A by the dates above will be excluded from NAT routes which will mean less efficient routes, more fuel burn and longer distance to travel which means a longer flight and quite possibly an extra fuel stop.
FANS consists of ADS-C and CPDLC.
ADS-C
Automatic Position Reports known as ADS-C, C meaning "Contract", requires no pilot interaction and the tower will initiate a contract with the reporting system. Another way to look at it is the tower will control the reporting system, allowing ATC to be able to control the frequency of reports. i.e. 1 position report every 5 minutes and they can also tell the system to report if the aircraft deviates from flight parameters. ADS-C replaces voice Position Reporting.
There are 3 types of contracts: 1) Periodic 2) Event 3) Demand. Event Contracts that are available in ADS- C acft are 1) Vertical Rate Change Event 2) Lateral Deviation Event 3) Altitude Range Change Event 4) Waypoint Change event.
CPDLC - Controller Pilot Datalink Communications (Text Messaging)
CPDLC Datalink communications allows for the direct exchange of text-based pre-formatted messages between a controller and a pilot and replaces voice communications over HF. CPDLC also replaces voice communications over VHF relieving the burden on VHF communications which is out of frequencies.
FANS Routes
FANS Routes allow more direct flights to the destination. Polar Routes allow the aircraft to take advantage of great circle navigation which is a more direct route to countries such as China. Both FANS and Polar Routes save time, fuel, money and carbon emissions.
Dynamic Aircraft Route Planning
DARP (Dynamic Aircraft Route Planning) and User Preferred Routings are available for FANS equipped airplanes. Pilots can change routes based on real winds instead of forecasted winds.
No Altitude Loss When Crossing Tracks
FANS allow more accurate position reporting, flight crew can control their speed to maintain separation instead of being forced to change altitude.
More reliable and efficient communications.
Communications using CPDLC is clear, reliable and reduces the response time to a few minutes for altitude change requests allowing the flight crew to take advantage of optimum altitude reducing fuel burn.
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