Managing Certification for Software and AEH on Military Programs

The requirement for airworthiness certification on military programs has created an increased demand for programs to include adherence to RTCA/DO-178B for Software Development and RTCA/DO-254 for Airborne Electronic Hardware (AEH) Development. The demands of ensuring detailed process control and rigorous development of products in compliance to these standards is a recent addition to the military industry's technical culture. Configuration Status Accounting can be employed by Systems Engineering in managing avionics systems development to RTCA/DO-178B and RTCA/DO-254. Presenting the practices employed by the Chinook Systems Engineering Certification team will provide insight into using predictive tools and processes that have saved time, provided consistency in reporting, and increased customer satisfaction and understanding of performance across systems within multiple international programs. Reference to DO-178 will refer to the use of either DO-178 or to DO-254 standards as the strategy and techniques discussed to manage compliance activities are consistent for both standards' guidance.