Airworthiness Certification Criteria - AcqNotes

1 NOT MEASUREMENT. SENSITIVE. MIL-HDBK-516B. 26 September 2005. SUPERSEDING. MIL-HDBK-516A. 5 February 2004. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. HANDBOOK. Airworthiness Certification Criteria . THIS HANDBOOK IS FOR GUIDANCE ONLY. DO NOT CITE THIS DOCUMENT AS A REQUIREMENT. AMSC: N/A AREA: SESS. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. MIL-HDBK-516B. FOREWORD. 1. This handbook is approved for use by all departments and agencies of the Department of Defense. 2. The Criteria contained herein are qualitative in nature. More specific guidance and background for specific Criteria may be found in the appropriate Joint Service Specification Guides (JSSG) and Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations referenced herein. Also, note that each section contains a list of typical Certification source data that may be referenced for evaluating system compliance with that section's Criteria .

2 Terms such as "acceptable" used in the Criteria are parameters whose specific definition must be determined and documented by the implementing office in the context of each unique air system. 3. Note that in electronic versions, the blue highlighted paragraph headings or text in handbook sections 4 through 19 are internal hyperlinks to bookmarks in the appendix Technical Points of Contact table. Clicking the mouse cursor on the blue jumps you to the referenced location in the table. To return from the Technical Points of Contact table to your jump point in the handbook, use the back arrow key on the menu bar (enable View-Toolbars-Web for the back arrow tool). Gray shaded internal cross-references within the document perform similarly. 4. Comments, suggestions, or questions on this document should be addressed to (ASC/ENOS, 2530 Loop Road West, Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7101) or emailed to Since contact information can change, you may want to verify the currency of this address information using the ASSIST Online database at ii MIL-HDBK-516B.

3 CONTENTS. Paragraph Page 1. Cross references and technical points of contact..2. Information 2. APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS ..4. 3. DEFINITIONS & ABBREVIATIONS ..17. Abbreviations and acronyms..21. 4. SYSTEMS ENGINEERING ..25. Design Criteria ..26. Tools and Materials selection..26. Manufacturing and Operator's and maintenance manuals/technical Configuration identification..28. Configuration status accounting..29. 5. Structural Strength ..35. Damage tolerance and durability (fatigue)..35. Mass Flight release ..37. 6. FLIGHT TECHNOLOGY ..38. Stability and Vehicle control functions (VCF)..46. Aerodynamics and performance..60. 7. PROPULSION AND PROPULSION Propulsion safety management ..67. iii MIL-HDBK-516B. CONTENTS - Continued Paragraph Page Gas turbine engine Alternate propulsion 8. AIR VEHICLE Hydraulic and pneumatic systems.

4 81. Environmental control system (ECS)..83. Fuel system..85. Fire and hazard protection..89. Landing gear and deceleration systems..94. Auxiliary/emergency power system(s) (APS/EPS)..108. Aerial refueling Deleted - Propulsion installations moved to Section External cargo hook systems (rotary wing)..122. External rescue hoist (rotary wing)..123. Fast rope insertion/extraction system (FRIES) (rotary wing)..123. 9. CREW SYSTEMS ..124. Escape and egress system..124. Crew stations and aircraft Air vehicle lighting..127. Human performance..128. Life support systems..130. Transparency integration..131. Crash survivability..132. Air transportability and airdrop..134. Lavatories, galleys, and areas not continuously occupied..136. 10. DIAGNOSTICS SYSTEMS ..138. Failure Operation..138. 11. Avionics Avionics Avionics air vehicle iv MIL-HDBK-516B.

5 CONTENTS - Continued Paragraph Page 12. ELECTRICAL Electric power generation system ..148. Electrical wiring system, including power distribution..152. 13. ELECTROMAGNETIC ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS (E3)..157. Component/subsystem E3 System-level E3 qualification..158. 14. SYSTEM SAFETY ..160. System safety Safety design requirements..162. Software safety program..163. 15. COMPUTER RESOURCES ..165. Air vehicle processing architecture..165. Functional design integration of processing elements..167. Subsystem/processing element..168. 16. Maintenance Inspection 17. ARMAMENT/STORES INTEGRATION ..176. Gun/Rocket integration and interface..177. Stores integration..178. Laser integration and Safety Interlocks ..180. 18. PASSENGER Survivability of Fire Physiology requirements of occupants..184. 19. MATERIALS ..185. Properties and processes.

6 186. Corrosion ..187. Nondestructive inspection ..188. Wear and erosion ..188. 20. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS ..189. v MIL-HDBK-516B. CONTENTS - Continued Paragraph Page Mission/test equipment and cargo/payload 21. Changes from previous issue..191. Subject term (key word) list..191. TECHNICAL POINTS OF CROSS-REFERENCE TABLE OF MAJOR SECTION CHANGES. FROM MIL-HDBK-516A TO vi MIL-HDBK-516B. Airworthiness . Certification Criteria . This document is approved for use by all Departments and Agencies of the Department of Defense. 1. SCOPE. Purpose. This document establishes the Airworthiness Certification Criteria to be used in the determination of Airworthiness of all manned and unmanned, fixed and rotary wing air vehicle systems. It is a foundational document to be used by the system program manager, chief engineer, and contractors to define their air system's Airworthiness Certification basis.

7 This handbook is for guidance only. This handbook cannot be cited as a requirement. If it is, the contractor does not have to comply. Applicability. These Criteria should be tailored and applied at any point throughout the life of an air vehicle system when an Airworthiness determination is necessary, especially whenever there is a change to the functional or product baseline. Rotary wing air vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle/remotely operated aircraft (UAV/ROA). features demand unique safety-of-flight (SOF) system requirements. Therefore, unique Criteria are included for these types of systems to ensure that minimum levels of design for safe operation and maintenance are established. The UAV/ROA operating system can be built into the vehicle or be part of the control station for remotely operated aircraft. The UAV/ROA system comprises the control station, data links, flight control system, communications systems/links, etc.

8 , as well as the air vehicle. UAV/ROAs vary greatly in size, weight, and complexity. Because they are unmanned, SOF risks associated with loss of aircrew may not apply. However, as with manned air vehicles, SOF risk associated with personnel, damage to equipment, property, and/or environment must be considered. As such, the Airworthiness Criteria may be tailored for this unique application, including when a UAV/ROA is designed to be expendable or where the UAV/ROA will conduct missions with minimum life expectancy.. Consideration should be given to the environment in which the UAV/ROA will be operated (controlled test range, national airspace, fleet usage, including ship based applications), to the airframe life for which the air vehicle is designed, and to the expendability of the UAV/ROA in close proximity to the control system, personnel, property, or other equipment.

9 Similarly, air vehicles intended for use aboard ship have unique requirements in areas such as structural integrity, propulsion system dynamic response and tolerance to steam ingestion, control systems response to approach and landings in high turbulence conditions, electromagnetic environmental effects, deck handling, support and servicing, and pilot field of view. Commercial derivative aircraft (CDA) are initially approved for safety of flight by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and may have an FAA approved Certificate of Airworthiness . Any non-FAA approved alteration to a CDA may render all FAA certifications invalid. While alterations to CDA are covered by rules unique to each branch of service, the operating service 1. MIL-HDBK-516B. always has the responsibility for the Airworthiness Certification approval under public aircraft rules.

10 Therefore, when planning any alterations to an FAA certified CDA, the modifier should contact the FAA Military Certification Office (MCO) in Wichita, KS at the earliest opportunity. Agreements for reimbursement for military service work performed by the FAA are in place, and in many cases MCO assistance on these alterations may be accomplished without additional cost. In all instances, complete and accurate documentation of both applicability and system specific measurable Criteria values is critical to ensuring consistent, timely, and accurate Airworthiness assessments. Tailoring to create the Certification basis Not all of the Airworthiness Criteria apply to every type of air vehicle; also, platform-unique, previously undefined Criteria may need to be added to fully address safety aspects of unique configurations.