Assessment of technical airworthiness in military aviation: implementation and further advancement of the bow-tie model

Abstract

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) serve to harmonize the safety regulation of civil aviation around the world. ICAO SARPs are only applicable to countries signatory to the 1944 Chicago Convention and only to civil aircraft operations. There is no complimentary international organization providing the same standardization of military aviation regulations. NATO provide international standards for interoperability, and the EDA now provide a militarized European regulatory set aimed at harmonizing requirements for European militaries, however there is no political platform to extend this beyond a voluntary adoption, particularly beyond the European Union. Each military aviation regulator has developed a unique airworthiness regulatory system. There is no recognized method for unbiased assessment and comparison of the disparate regulatory frameworks. This poses a significant challenge when establishing acceptance between military regulatory authorities. This paper develops an assessment framework based on assuring technical integrity utilizing a novel implementation of bow-tie methodology. Further, a unique visualization method is presented to facilitate the comparative assessment of the different regulatory frameworks. This visualization method is a powerful tool for conveying the regulator interaction with the organizations performing design, production and maintenance under their regulatory framework.