Guidance: MAA Recognition

Recognition is the process used to evaluate other military aviation regulators and assess the potential to use their airworthiness outputs within MAA processes.

The Recognition process provides a structured evidence base to support a judgement on the extent to which another military aviation regulator’s technical airworthiness outputs would be acceptable for use within the MAA Certification or Organisational Approvals processes.

Recognition, however, does not mean that the work of another military aviation regulator can be used in the UK’s Defence Air Environment without further analysis. Their work must still be understood and assessed by the relevant DE&S Delivery Team Type Airworthiness Authority, in consultation with the MAA, with any differences that present a risk identified and sentenced. Further information about the use of Recognition within MAA processes can be found in Regulatory Articles 1005 and 5810.

To undertake Recognition with other military aviation regulators the MAA uses the European Military Airworthiness Document Recognition (EMAD R) process developed through the European Defence Agency (EDA). This process revolves around the analysis of the other military regulator’s Responses to the Military Authorities’ Recognition Questionset (MARQ). The MARQ is contained in Annex D of the EMAD R and is derived from the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Doc 9734 (Safety Oversight Manual) and Doc 9760 (Airworthiness Manual).

The EMAD R can be found on the EDA airworthiness webpage

Evaluation of the Responses to the MARQ enables the MAA to assess the scope of another military aviation regulator’s responsibilities and regulations in the following areas:

Military aviation regulators can decide to conduct Recognition on a one-way or a two-way (ie mutual) basis, depending on the business need of the nations involved.