In the realm of aviation, the fundamental principle is that “An aircraft is airworthy if it conforms to its Type Design and if it is in a condition for safe flight.”
However, Rear Admiral Janak Bevli, ACNS (Air) during a panel discussion on Thursday emphasized the inevitability of occasional failures and errors in complex machinery. Therefore, how imperative it becomes to strike a balance between safety, cost, and practicality when setting airworthiness standards.
The ACNS (Air) was part of a distinguished panel which consisted of Adm KB Singh (Retd), Sqn Ldr Sameer Joshi (NewSpace Research & technologies), S Rangarajan (CMD, Data Patterns), Cdr Rahul Verma (Retd) (Technical Manager, TASL) and Dr Shirish Kale (CEMILAC).
An aviation session on “Challenges and Road Map to Certification and Qualification of Indigenous Systems” was held during the 2nd Edition of the Indian Navy’s Naval Innovation and Indigenization (NIIO) Seminar – ‘Swavlamban 2023’ from Oct 4 – 5, 2023.
All the speakers dwelled that ‘No machine can be built which never fails ‘or’ No human could be found who never commits error.’ Consequently, all modes of transportation have to tolerate a certain amount of risk or lack of safety. The ‘level of safety’ becomes a complex concern when formulating standards because achieving absolute safety is hypothetical and can only be realized at an infinite cost. Therefore, the airworthiness standards need to strike a balance between safety concerns, cost, and practicability from a design and manufacturing perspective.
A fundamental difference between civil and military airworthiness and certifications lies in the fact that military aircraft designs often incorporate technologies that are not yet proven to their maturity to gain a slight edge over their contemporaries. In contrast, civil airworthiness primarily focuses on passenger comfort and safety, while its military counterpart prioritizes the completion of mission tasks as the primary design driver, with safety levels determined through agreements between manufacturers and users (defense services) was clearly emphasized by the chair Adm KB Singh (Retd).
Certification: The Path to Safety
Certification, Cdr Rahul Verma (retd) explained, is the rigorous process of evaluating and documenting a product’s compliance with specified requirements, ultimately declaring it “safe to fly.” Certification is a third party assurance to the users that the product has been meticulously designed, developed, evaluated, and manufactured to meet stringent quality, reliability, and integrity standards. However, it’s crucial to remember that a certified product is not necessarily airworthy unless certified as such. This underscores the symbiotic relationship between airworthiness and certification.
Trust and Safety
Cdr Rahul Verma (Retd) invoked Winston Churchill’s words, “Safety does not come out of the blue. It is the child of constant vigilance,” emphasizing the critical role of military airworthiness and certification in building trust and ensuring safety. Through standardized airworthiness certification, military alliances are fortified, and trust and reliability are the bedrock of international partnerships. Whether in joint exercises, peacekeeping missions, or humanitarian efforts, the reliability of allies’ capabilities hinges on the robustness of airworthiness and certification frameworks.
Challenges and Recommendations
Acknowledging the complexity of the subject, Cdr Rahul verma (retd) advocated for independent certification agencies. He elaborated on India’s certification process and its colonial past, highlighting its differences from systems in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, where airworthiness functions are delegated to contracting firms.
In India, regulatory authorities like CEMILAC and DGAQA maintain daily interaction with the design and development teams, leading to delays and counter-productivity.
Sqn Ldr Sameer and Mr Rangarajan both being experienced in the aviation industry raised several key points:
- Biased Evaluation: The involvement of a single entity in development, production, and certification can raise questions about impartiality in evaluations.
- Competition Fairness: Private entities may perceive a lack of a level playing field when competing with government-backed organizations like DRDO.
- Resource Allocation: Concerns may arise about how resources are allocated within organizations like DRDO, potentially impacting research and innovation.
- Feedback Loop: Over-reliance on internal experiences can limit the scope of improvements and refinements.
- Intellectual Property: Stringent document sharing requirements may hinder the protection of intellectual property.
The Way Forward
Each and every speaker suggested various ways to make this Certification a fast and single-window process.
Cdr Rahul Verma (Retd) concluded with a set of recommendations to address these challenges:
- Regulatory Reforms: Establish centralized independent agencies with unified standards for agility and responsiveness.
- Level Playing Field: Provide Indian startups with the same opportunities as imported products, potentially involving CEMILAC in defining standards.
- Utilize Testing Units: Leverage military testing units like the Naval Flight Test Squadron in Goa for equipment testing, even during development.
- Financial Mechanisms: Introduce subsidies, grants, or low-interest loans to support indigenous developers offset certification costs and encourage innovation.
- Leverage Technology: Embrace AI, digital twin technologies, and simulation-based testing to expedite and simplify the certification process.
- Counter Proliferation: At a structural level this is to counter the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) proposed concept of an “Air Sil Route”. Their goal is to shape the aviation industry and systems within and among target countries as well as to propel the “going out” of China aviation supply chain. Our certifying agencies should have abilities to find this bug in our systems, datalinks, engines, and other small but key components and prevent catastrophe.
Dr Kale, in response to the Industry, came out only with the existing procedures and some ideas for the betterment and ease of doing certifications. However, he didn’t comment on the dual nature of the Govt R&D organization. Also, his regular emphasis on the need to introduce certification in the RFP did not resonate with the audiences and the startups.
ACNS (Air) underscored the importance of streamlined certification and airworthiness processes in fulfilling India’s ambitions of self-reliance and innovation in defense and aviation. The journey to self-reliance requires strategic partnerships, infrastructure investment, regulatory reforms, and a collective belief in India’s capabilities.
In this evolving landscape, the presence of mavericks who challenge conventions are essential to redefine excellence was brought out clearly by Adm KB Singh, who as the chair for the session brought out the clarion call for reforms and independence of the Certifying agencies.