A team comprising engineering consultancy Frazer-Nash and Marshall Aerospace will deliver a proposed new set of harmonised military airworthiness regulations to the European Defence Agency (EDA) in late 2012, following a project lasting more than two years.
"Covering all aspects of airworthiness, including flight dynamics, structural integrity and propulsion," the new guidelines are intended to enable EDA member states to "dramatically reduce the potential for programme schedule delays, reduce initial and through-life costs and also improve interoperability," said Frazer-Nash.
In June 2010, the partner companies were tasked with exploring the potential to create a harmonised European Military Airworthiness Certification Criteria guidebook, which Frazer-Nash said will "help to define and agree airworthiness certification requirements for all manned and unmanned, fixed and rotary wing air vehicle systems". Final acceptance by the EDA is expected before year-end.
"An important element of this piece of work for the EDA is to help ensure that the proposed harmonised criteria allow individual certifying authorities within Europe the latitude to interpret and select the most appropriate approach," said Frazer-Nash project manager Tim Andrews.
Source: Flight International
