See and be seen

Autonomy is transforming airspace and enhancing aviation safety. Today’s airspace is increasingly complex. Skies are busier and more interconnected than ever before, with general aviation, commercial transport, air ambulances, advanced air mobility, and uncrewed aircraft systems operating in increasingly overlapping environments. Safe integration demands that aircraft must be able to see and be seen.

Despite the complexity, AUVSI envisions a future with zero air collisions. That is no longer a technology challenge; it is simply a matter of policy. Achieving that vision in a mixed ecosystem of crewed and uncrewed aircraft requires a scalable, affordable, and interoperable approach to electronic visibility. The safest and most sustainable path forward is universal electronic conspicuity (EC). Universal does not mean identical or burdensome. It means baseline participation.

Electronic conspicuity, the ability for an aircraft to broadcast its position and receive the positions of others, is the foundation of shared situational awareness. Without it, pilots and autonomous systems operate with incomplete information, or require other complex or more costly safety mitigations, in increasingly busy skies.

Across global aviation markets, including Europe and the United States, equipage remains fragmented. Some aircraft broadcast ADS-B. Others in Europe rely on regional or proprietary systems. Drones comply with identification requirements and in the U.S. and when operating beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) have onboard technology to detect equipped aircraft broadcasting their position. Most drones, however, cannot reliably detect non-cooperative crewed aircraft. Safety in shared airspace cannot depend on some participants equipping while others remain electronically invisible. The result is an uneven safety picture: some aircraft are visible to some operators some of the time. That is not a durable foundation for enhancing aviation safety broadly and for scaling advanced air mobility, BVLOS drone operations, or increasingly automated and integrated airspace.

In Europe, an active debate is underway about whether uncrewed aircraft alone should be required to carry transponders, whether ADS-L or other technologies should serve as the baseline, and whether equipage obligations should extend to all participants in lower airspace. AUVSI’s view is safety in shared airspace cannot depend on one side being electronically visible while the other remains unseen. The question is how to establish proportionate, interoperable visibility across crewed and uncrewed aircraft alike, and ensure a safer airspace for everyone.

AUVSI supports a unifying standard that is interoperable, easy to equip, safe, and affordable. We support a common, interoperable broadcast baseline combined with performance-based flexibility in how that information is received and displayed. Aircraft do not need identical hardware, but they must speak a common electronic and message language in shared airspace.

In the United States, policymakers are actively evaluating how to strengthen electronic conspicuity across aviation segments; a discussion AUVSI has strongly encouraged. That debate recognizes two realities. First, ADS-B provides a mature and internationally recognized foundation for cooperative surveillance. Second, not all aircraft can accommodate traditional transponders due to size, weight, power, or cost constraints. Accordingly, the path forward is not rigid uniformity. It is scalable, proportionate implementation. ADS-B–derived solutions offer the most immediately deployable reference point for interoperability because they are already widely implemented and ready to scale. However, universal EC should ultimately be defined by performance outcomes:

• Reliable position broadcast
• Predictable detectability
• Interoperable reception
• Proportionate implementation across aircraft classes

This approach allows innovation to continue while ensuring that safety is not compromised by fragmentation. For smaller aircraft and uncrewed systems, lightweight and low-power solutions are essential. Low-cost, portable EC devices demonstrate that broad participation can be achievable without extensive aircraft redesign or prohibitive expense. When compliance is practical, adoption scales.

Operational sensitivity must also be respected. Public safety, security, and critical infrastructure missions may require safeguards against misuse of broadcast data. Effective EC frameworks can incorporate appropriate protections while preserving cooperative visibility.

Universal electronic conspicuity strengthens regulatory clarity as well as safety. When aircraft are electronically visible, right-of-way expectations become more predictable. Detect-and-avoid systems perform more reliably. Automation scales more safely. Public confidence grows and our airspace is more modernized.

The alternative is continued fragmentation, a patchwork of partially interoperable systems that limit situational awareness and complicate cross-border operations. As aviation becomes more global and more automated, alignment of interoperable EC standards becomes increasingly important. Airspace does not stop at national boundaries. Neither should cooperative visibility.

AUVSI supports a performance-based, internationally interoperable framework for universal EC that:

• Establishes a common broadcast baseline
• Allows multiple compliant technologies that meet defined performance standards
• Ensures solutions are proportionate and accessible across aviation segments
• Incorporates safeguards for sensitive operations

Universal electronic conspicuity is not about mandating identical equipment. It is about ensuring that every aircraft operating in shared airspace contributes to and benefits from shared awareness.

Innovation will define the next chapter of aviation. Universal visibility will help ensure it is safe.