Military aircraft must now broadcast position like civilian planes
S. 1706 — A bill to require aircraft operating in Class B airspace in the national airspace system to install and operate ADS-B In and ADS-B Out equipment, and for other purposes. · Filed by Jerry Moran (R-KS) · Introduced May 8, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires all aircraft—including military planes—operating in Class B airspace (busy airspace around major airports) to install and continuously operate ADS-B In and ADS-B Out equipment, which broadcasts and receives real-time position and velocity data. It repeals a 2019 exemption that allowed Department of Defense aircraft to skip this requirement, and bars the FAA from granting any future exemptions.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward safety requirement—mandating equipment installation and operation in congested airspace—coupled with elimination of a carve-out that had created an exemption. This is core aviation safety regulation, not a tax, subsidy, or deregulation.
What the text implies
- Eliminates a military exemption that has existed since 2019, potentially affecting DoD flight operations and training in Class B airspace around major metropolitan areas.
- Creates uniform equipment mandate across civilian and military operators, which may impose compliance costs on DoD but enhances safety transparency in the National Airspace System.
- ADS-B equipment broadcasts aircraft position continuously; military aircraft will now be subject to the same real-time position tracking as civilian aircraft in Class B airspace.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Uniform ADS-B equipment across all Class B airspace improves air traffic safety and situational awareness for all operators and the public by eliminating a military exemption that created a two-tier system. Citizens benefit from enhanced collision avoidance and surveillance in the busiest, most congested airspace.
Who stands to gain
- avionics manufacturers (ADS-B equipment suppliers)
- aircraft retrofit and installation service providers
Named in the bill
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Defense (DoD), Section 1046, John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, 14 CFR Part 91.227 (ADS-B Out), 14 CFR Part 91.277 (ADS-B In)
Where it stands
- May 8, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- May 8, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
8 lobbying clients named this bill on 10 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $4,672,150 in lobbying spend. A filing names 11 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 88% of bills with at least one filing.
Jerry Moran, the sponsor, reported $396,550 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Fedex Corporation — $2,930,000 on 1 filing
- Associated Builders and Contractors Inc — $700,000 on 1 filing
- General Aviation Manufacturers Association — $455,000 on 2 filings
- Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association — $320,000 on 1 filing
- Dpwn Holdings (usa) Inc. (formerly Known As Deutsche Post World Net-usa, Inc.) — $117,150 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,538 characters) on May 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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