11.1 Defence aircraft are often fitted with aircraft stores. A store is defined as ‘any device intended for internal or external carriage and mounted on aircraft suspension and release equipment, whether or not the item is intended to be separated in flight from the aircraft’ and includes items such as sonobuoys, external fuel tanks and countermeasures.
11.2 Design standards are used for establishing the extent of compatibility between an aircraft, specific stores and suspension equipment and hence for justifying the airworthiness of stores for use on aircraft. Air Warfare Engineering Squadron (AWE SQN) maintains subject matter expertise for ASC and provides sponsorship of this chapter of the DASDRM. AWE SQN has identified shortfalls in extant Airworthiness Codes promulgated by civil and military Airworthiness Authorities as described in Section 1 of this manual. Consequently, the Authority has prescribed airworthiness design requirements for ASC to supplement these Airworthiness Codes to afford an adequate level of safety to personnel and property as well as enabling interoperability with allied nations.
11.3 This chapter identifies the Authority prescribed design standards for ASC which are applicable to aircraft acquisitions, changes to type design and capability and should be read in conjunction with relevant airworthiness regulations and DEOP 102. The standards identified are of specific relevance to ASC and do not include those that are purely applicable to munitions, explosives or ordnance (refer to Directorate Ordnance Safety’s eDEOP 101 / DEOP 102 for these). This chapter also provides guidance on how a requesting agency can work with AWE SQN to tailor the standards to meet the requirements of a particular design.
11.4 This section presents the ASC airworthiness design requirements for stores fitted to Defence aircraft. A full list of the ASC standards referred to in this chapter is provided in Annex A. The standards are subdivided into the following groups for ease of reference:
11.5 A/SC Terminology, Definitions and Glossary. This includes the standards that define the terminology used in ASC, aircraft armament plus Safety and Suitability for Service (S3) of munitions and explosives.
11.6 Airworthiness Standards. These standards are applied to ensure that the integration of stores on to the aircraft does not adversely affect safe flight. These include standards which address general design, store/stores suspension equipment design and aircraft store environmental aspects.
11.7 WHS Standards. The application of WHS standards helps to ensure the health and safety of personnel and the public both in the air and on the ground. These standards address areas such as flight termination systems, range safety, safe escape, safety and S3 for aircraft stores.
11.8 Compatibility Standards. These standards address the aircraft store interface and are applied to ensure that the store is compatible with the aviation system. This includes arming systems, electrical and mechanical connections, ground fit and compatibility criteria, and compatibility aspects for aircraft stores.
11.9 Capability Standards. The application of these standards helps to ensure that when the weapon is integrated onto the platform it can provide the required capability.
11.10 Miscellaneous. This includes interoperability and self-damage analysis of aircraft stores.
11.11 Design Requirement (Essential). Defence ASC designs must meet the requirements of the approved ASC ‘standard’, MIL-HDBK-1763 or MIL-HDBK-516C Sections 5 and 17, ‘Aircraft/Stores Compatibility: Systems Engineering Data Requirements and Test Procedures’.
11.12 When a requirement for a new capability is approved, the acquisition process requires the development of a certification strategy that will include a Statement of Work (SOW) and/or Data Item Descriptor (DID). For ASC related designs, MIL-HDBK-1763 (specifically appendix C) provides a list of the ASC data requirements in the form of an Aircraft Stores Compatibility Engineering Data Package (ASCEDP). Whilst MIL-HDBK-1763 and MIL-HDBK-516C Sections 5 and 17 provide the complete requirements for an ASC design, there is typically a requirement to conduct some tailoring of the data requirements. Whenever there is a proposal to tailor the Authority prescribed standard, AWE SQN should be consulted to ensure that the airworthiness of the design is maintained. This may be accomplished by the Commonwealth before tendering a capability or by suppliers as part of the acquisition process.
11.13 Design Requirement (Essential). Defence ASC designs must meet the requirements of the relevant AIR STDs and STANAGs listed in Annex A.
11.14 Australia is actively involved in a number of international working groups relating to standards and agreements. The two most significant are the Air Force Interoperability Council (AFIC), formerly known as the Air and Space Interoperability Council (ASIC) and Air Standardisation Co-ordination Committee (ASCC), via Air Standards (AIR STD) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) via Standardisation Agreements (STANAGs). Many of these standards and agreements have airworthiness implications and are called out by MIL-HDBK-1763 or MIL-HDBK-516C Sections 5 and 17, however, others are in place to promote and maintain a level of interoperability and commonality with allies. The standards relevant to ASC are detailed in Annex A to assist assessment / compliance during the development of any new ASC design. If compliance cannot be shown to a relevant AIR STD or STANAG, AWE SQN is to be consulted for further guidance.
11.15 Design Requirement (Essential). To prevent damage to an aircraft from its own ordnance Safe Escape information (data and procedures) must be developed or acquired.
11.16 Safe Escape data and procedures provide protection for the releasing aircraft, and any other platforms that might be operating in conjunction with the releasing aircraft, to an acceptable level of risk. AWE SQN maintains subject matter expertise for the technical analysis and development of aircraft safe escape information. There are no current standards for the development of Safe Escape information to meet the acceptable risk levels defined by operational commanders. There are differences in acceptable risk levels for safe escape between nations (and services) from which the ADF receives safe escape information. Therefore, before any foreign information is utilised, AWE SQN must be approached to analyse the implications of these differences.
11.17 The following requirements are not prescribed by the Authority, but should be considered for aircraft acquisitions or modifications to ASC where capability is a determining factor.
11.18 Design Requirement. Defence ASC Designs must meet the Australian Unique Capability Requirements defined in Annex B.
11.19 Australia has a unique legislative and operating environment to the rest of the world. This requires unique Aircraft/Stores considerations to ensure the ADF can operate safely. The requirements detailed in Annex B ensure that the risk to personnel and property is understood and the system meets an appropriate level of safety when the aircraft/stores system is exercised.
11.20 Commensurate with the requirements of Annex B, as well as maintaining subject matter expertise for ASC, AWE SQN can generate and approve Weapon Danger Areas (WDA). Before the acquisiton of a new system requiring a WDA it will be necessary to liaise with AWE SQN to determine what format the WDA will take and what data is necessary.
11.21 Tailoring. Due to the number and variety of ASC configurations in Defence, tailoring or deviation from the ASC prescribed standards will often be necessary and may only occur following consultation with AWE SQN. Aircraft or Store Project Offices are advised to engage with AWE SQN on ASC aspects of projects as early as possible in the capability life cycle to ensure data and airworthiness requirements for ASC configurations can be satisfied and supported. Guidance on the tailoring process can be found in MIL-HDBK-516C Section 1.2.1.
11.22 Products. When AWE SQN provides airworthiness advice it is generally in the form of an ASC Flight Clearance Recommendation (FCR) or Interim Flight Clearance (IFC). This will normally address all aspects of an ASC standard, as well as the additional considerations identified above. Occasionally, technical information may be provided in another format to assist and inform risk retention authorities. Examples are compliance demonstration, procedures and other Technical Advice (TA) reports. In all cases, compliance with MIL-HDBK-1763, MIL-HDBK-516C Sections 5 and 17 or the standards listed in annex A will form the basis of all ASC products and advice.
11.23 Novel / alternative standards. Suppliers may use, or seek to use, novel or new processes to show that an acceptable airworthiness basis exists for an ASC design, even if this does not strictly comply with prescribed standards listed in Annex A. Whenever a new, novel or alternative standard or method of compliance is proposed, AWE SQN is to be petitioned for a formal determination of the acceptability of the solution.
11.24 Further guidance on Aircraft / Stores Compatibility is available from the chapter sponsor (airwarfarecentre.enquiries@defence.gov.au).