The theme of the conference was ‘Harmonising Military Airworthiness and Developing Continuing Airworthiness Policy’ and Baines Simmons Director Bob Simmons was asked to present on the British Armed Forces Continuing Airworthiness Certification Systems, which are based on the European Military Airworthiness Requirements (EMARs).

In his presentation, Bob argued that a civil-based system offers a number of benefits, beyond the clear benefits of mutual recognition and cross border cooperation. These include:

·       A ‘common’ approval system across the civil and military sectors avoids needless differences or duplication and permits a less risk-prone and efficient service to be provided

·       There is potential for the acceptance of parts and services in both sectors, optimising resources and increasing parts pooling

·       The increased competition between an increased population of competing contractors can only be healthy

·       The Continuous Improvement philosophies embedded in the management systems offer opportunities to connect cost management whilst improving aircraft capability and availability

On the second day of the conference, Bob delivered two workshops, which introduced the structure and content of EMARs and explored the business benefits of an EMAR implementation. Of the 150 delegates at the conference, 90 attended the workshops.

Bob explained that, currently, European countries operate military aviation safety systems independently from each other, which generates many challenges for multinational aircraft, not least delays and additional costs. He summarised the advantages of EMAR implementation as follows:

• It is closely based on the proven European Union civil regulatory system, meeting ICAO standards
• High levels of safety achieved
• Internationally accepted standards
• Enables organisations to easily work in both civil and defence sectors to the same principles and standards
• Allows personnel to transfer between civil/military sectors
• The EMARs are a cohesive set of requirements, with clear roles and responsibilities for organisations and well-defined interfaces
• An increasing number of major manufacturers and maintainers are aligning with the EMARs, improving interfaces and reducing costs
• The EMARs are based on a system that aims to improve efficiency and reduce costs

Bob Simmons, Director at Baines Simmons, said: “I was really impressed with the level of engagement and interest in the EMAR system and the way in which the whole Korean industry came together to build their understanding”.

A video of Bob discussing the benefits of harmonising military airworthiness through EMAR implementation can be found here.