Aerodrome Design Requirements

Introduction

For Defence aerodromes, the Defence Aviation Safety Authority (DASA) is responsible for establishing the initial safety requirements. These aviation safety requirements are prescribed within Section 6 of the DASA’s Defence Aviation Safety Design Requirements Manual (DASDRM) and are to be used when designing Defence certified aerodromes.

The Authority will identify a primary design standard which represents international or domestic "good practice" for aerodrome design and is an integrated requirement set, internally consistent and kept up-to-date by the sponsoring authority. The DASDRM aerodrome requirements leverage heavily, where possible, on a primary design standard. These primary standards provide a sound foundation for aerodrome design, however due to Defences unique military role and environment, the DASDRM adapts the primary design standard through supplementation or tailoring. This may be needed where the primary design standard:

•          is silent on specific design elements needed for Defence aerodromes, such as military-specific capability requirements;
•          does include requirements for a particular design element, but Defence experience has shown it needs to be varied for the Defence operational context; and/or
•          is not entirely compatible with mandatory Australian legislative design requirements, for example electrical wiring.

The Authority prescribe design requirements in support of safe flight operations. Non-aviation safety-related design requirements necessary for Defence capability, standardisation and interoperability with other defence forces are not included.

The DASDRM design requirements provide the starting point for developing the aerodrome certification basis – the requirements for which the aerodrome is to comply with to achieve certification. The DASDRM aims to cater for most Defence capability needs, although supplementation or tailoring may occasionally be needed for niche capabilities on an aerodrome.

Aerodrome design requirements are identified in Defence Aviation Safety Design Requirements Manual (DASDRM), Section 6 as follows:

Systems and functions covered by the design requirements include:

• Physical characteristics of movement facilities.
• Aircraft arresting systems, and recovery assist systems for shipborne heliports.
• Obstacle restrictions and limitations.
• Visual aids provided by aerodrome markings, markers, signals, wind direction indicators, and so on.
• Visual aids provided by aerodrome lighting.
• Communication, Navigation, Surveillance (CNS) and Meteorological (MET) facilities.
• Earthing points.
• Aircraft tie-down facilities
• Radio communication facilities.
• Aerodrome Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) requirements.

What We Do

The DASA prescribes design requirements for aerodrome systems and functions that are necessary to support safe flight at Defence aerodromes. The design requirements are captured within the DASDRM Section 6.

Design requirements are separately prescribed for Defence aerodromes primarily used for fixed wing operations, land based heliports and shipborne heliports.
The DASA provides advice on interpreting the design requirements.

I Want To Learn More…

If you want to learn more about Aerodrome design requirements, please consult the DASR 139 (Aerodrome) Regulations at DASR 139 Aerodromes and the following resources:

Support

If you have questions about this topic please contact dasa.aerodromes@defence.gov.au

For DASR queries please submit a DASR Query Form (DQF) Form 110

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