PAC Presents at DASA Software Symposium
In August 2019, PAC personnel had the opportunity to present a brief at the Defence Aviation Safety Authority (DASA) Military Aviation Software Symposium. The symposium took place in Melbourne, Australia with over 100 military leaders, government representatives, and industry partners present. The conference was titled, ‘Software Assurance under Defence Aviation Safety Regulations: Challenges and Good Practice’. The symposium is considered one of the most prestigious military Aviation Software safety forums in Australia. It was an honor to not just attend, but to brief and inform the attendees.
PAC employee Troy Hudson presented a brief entitled “F/A-18F & EA-18G Mission Planning Environment – Software Assurance under Defence Aviation Safety Regulations”. The presentation explained the F/A-18F and EA-18G Mission Planning Environment (MPE) software suite when implemented into the RAAF fleet initially via the Technical Airworthiness Management Manual (TAMM). The brief also discussed the DAS Regulations (DASRs) following introduction in 2016.
Under the TAMM, MPE builds used the Design Acceptance Strategy (DAS), Software Compliance Finding Plan (SCFP), Software Compliance Finding (SCF) and Recommendation for Design Acceptance (RDA) prescriptive approach. This approach is required by the TAMM.
Now under DASR, MPEs are incorporated in a technical oversight plan for the platform build, with USN-specific MPE product delivery at the end of the development cycle. This is documented via a standardized checklist SOP. This checklist, termed “Suitability Assessment” by ACEASPO. RAAF staff and support contractors at NAWS China Lake, California are responsible for completing the checklist.
The brief described the pros & cons of accepting the MPE via the TAMM and DASRs, helping to inform attendees as to the current state of MPE Software Assurance.
