The ALERT Act is a comprehensive aviation safety bill that focuses on making military aircraft safer when flying in civilian airspace, particularly around busy airports. The bill requires the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration to work together to ensure military helicopters and other aircraft can operate safely alongside commercial flights without colliding.

The main goal is to get military aircraft equipped with collision avoidance technology—basically systems that alert pilots when other aircraft are nearby. For most military helicopters operating in crowded airspace (especially around major cities like Washington, D.C.), they'll need to broadcast their location using ADS-B technology, which is like a radar signal that tells other aircraft where they are. However, the bill recognizes that some military missions are sensitive for national security reasons, so it allows exceptions for special operations when safety measures are in place.

The bill also requires the military to improve pilot training on flying in busy airspace, establish better safety management systems for helicopter operations, and track flight data to identify and fix safety problems. The military and FAA must create an agreement by September 2026 that spells out exactly how these safety measures will work, and the military has until the end of 2031 to equip most of its aircraft with the required collision prevention technology.