The CAA says. This Consultation on a Proposed Electronic Conspicuity Mandate in the UK seeks views on the CAA's proposed approach on how an EC Mandate should be designed and introduced in a practical, fair and workable way.
The call for evidence in the consultation on EC Technical Concept of Operations (CAP 3140) identified a range of initial stakeholder views on an EC Mandate, including on impact, practicality, fairness and some of the potential benefits. Informed by this earlier stakeholder engagement, commissioned research and technical detail set out in CAP 3140, the CAA has developed a provisional proposal for an EC Mandate.
That approach is described in Consultation on a Proposed Electronic Conspicuity Mandate in the UK (CAP3268).
PilotAware says. The CAA’s high level ambition continues to be the mandatory use of ADS-B out by all manned Aircraft in the UK and the transmission of ADSB-out on 978Mhz for UAV’s.
This is a very important opportunity to have your say regarding the Mandating of Electronic Conspicuity in the UK.
Not a lot has changed in the outcome following the consultation last year in which just over 800 people responded. The vast majority of those who responded were from the paragliding and hang gliding community. The following information of the the breakdown shows a minimal response from powered pilots. So we encourage more representation from the other areas of GA to respond to this consultation to provide a representative view from the powered side of GA.
Through CAP 3268, the CAA is asking the General Aviation community to respond to 13 consultation questions. To help respondents understand the proposals and their wider context, the CAA has also published a substantial body of supporting and background material.
Reading and fully understanding all of that material takes time, perseverance and, in places, a reasonable degree of technical and operational knowledge. Many pilots and aircraft owners may simply not have the time or inclination to work through it all or any of it before responding.
Fortunately, a number of people and organisations with relevant technical, operational and General Aviation experience have produced their own guides, analyses and observations to help pilots understand the issues and reach their own conclusions.
These do not contain suggested or “cut-and-paste” answers to the consultation questions. The purpose of including them here is to provide different perspectives and help you decide for yourself how you wish to respond.
The independent authors and organisations linked below are not writing on behalf of PilotAware Ltd, nor, where indicated, are they associated with PilotAware or another EC manufacturer. Their views are their own. PilotAware is providing the links because we believe the GA community benefits from having access to a broad range of informed opinion based on evidence rather than on blind faith on any position. The outcome is too important for that.
The proposed EC mandate deserves careful consideration. It potentially involves questions of safety, technology, spectrum capacity, interoperability, economics, proportionality, practicality, airspace access and future integration with unmanned aviation. There are arguments to consider both for and against elements of the CAA’s proposed approach, including specifically its proposed use of ADS-B on 1090 MHz and 978 MHz.
This is an important and potentially long-lasting decision for UK General Aviation.
We therefore encourage you to read the CAA material, consider the independent views below, form your own opinion, and respond to the CAP 3268 consultation before 22 September 2026.
This is a recording of the CAA webinar presented for the General Aviation community in relation to the CAA’s consultation on the Proposed Electronic Conspicuity Mandate in the UK. Broadcast on Tuesday 11 August from 18:00 – 19:00.
Questions were written in and answers provided by the CAA presenters. This is a useful resource to see what concerns and questions the 150+ attendees had and the answers given by the CAA.
A transcript of the CAA webinar has kindly been produced by Charlie Richardson who writes
I attended this webinar and found it hard to follow at times. Consequently I created a tidied-up version of the transcript once it was issued and have shared this with various people to help them understand what was said and the questions and answers.
The attached is my tidied-up version, which you are welcome to share if it is of any use.
This is available on the PilotAware Website
The BGA says. Our guidance aims to help to inform individual responses to the CAA consultation. The CAA uses the number of consultation responses as one indication of the strength of public feeling. Your response can therefore make a difference, particularly if it explains your own experience and concerns. We offer the following guidance.
Flight Training News says. The UK CAA’s proposed electronic conspicuity (EC) mandate could become one of the most significant new equipment requirements imposed on general aviation (GA) in decades.
"A pilot who is a member of the Cheshire Flyers” says I support the CAA's objective of substantially increasing Electronic Conspicuity (EC) in UK airspace.
Electronic conspicuity can improve pilots' awareness of surrounding traffic, reduce collision risk and help crewed aircraft, drones and future airspace users coexist. The CAA itself recognises that the safety benefit increases as more aircraft carry compatible equipment and interoperability improves.
The BHPA provided the largest input to the last consultation with over 500 responses. They were against the proposal. Here is the latest BHPA [position
This guide is intentionally not a set of model answers. It gives you questions and prompts to help you thinkabout how the proposal would affect the flying that you actually do. Please use your own words and include points that reflect your experience or views. This guide has the CAA consultation questions in black text (starting on page 5) and our suggested points to think about (in blue text) whilst considering your own answer.
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