Air Traffic Management / Air Navigation Services (ATM/ANS) ground equipment

The “Application for Design or Production Organisation (DPO) Approval” is now available on the EASA Application Services website. Organisations that are interested to become an approved DPO can find the new form (FO.AOA.00085) on the Application forms website. Detailed instructions to help applicants fill in the form are embedded at the bottom of the form itself. Additional information related to DPO and other ATM/ANS topics can be found on the EASA ATM website.

As always, any queries related to the approval of an ATM/ANS Organisation, ATCO Training Organisation, or Design or Production Organisation (DPO) can be sent to: AtmAnsOrg [at] easa.europa.eu.

The process of becoming an approved DPO begins when an organization submits an application. Once an application is received and accepted, an EASA project team will be created and assigned to the project. It is also possible to schedule a “pre-application” meeting with EASA to clarify specific points before an application is formally submitted. However, please be aware that your project schedule may need to accommodate delays that result from scheduling constraints. 

Any natural or legal person who has demonstrated, or is set to demonstrate, their capability to design or produce ATM/ANS equipment, may apply for a design or production organisation approval under the conditions laid down in EU IR 2023/1769.

In this context, if the legal entity has formalized control over other legal entities (i.e., subsidiaries), then these subsidiaries can be covered by the DPO approval. For example, if the legal corporate entity (aka the “parent company”) submits an application as DPO, then it can choose to include subsidiary organisations under Section 2.3 “Additional Locations” on the DPO application form.

However, be aware that this is not simply a matter of legal definition on paper. The DPO applicant must demonstrate that all subsidiaries are also meeting the requirements needed for DPO approval (e.g., competencies, procedures, etc).

In accordance with ATM/ANS.EQMT.CERT.005 on Eligibility, any natural or legal person who has demonstrated, or is in the process of demonstrating (i.e. is an applicant), their design capability in accordance with point ATM/ANS.EQMT.CERT.010, may apply for the issuance of an ATM/ANS equipment certificate.

A DPO needs an organisation approval at latest by September 2028, but it could already apply now. Formally speaking, the certification process of an ATM/ANS equipment could be launched during the DPO approval process. However, it should be noted that the certificate of ATM/ANS equipment could be issued by EASA only after the DPO is approved. The same applies for an ATM/ANS equipment declaration of design compliance; the DPO could issue the declaration but only after the DPO approval is completed and issued.

An estimate of workload connected with the approval procedure is provided by EASA as part of the quotation that may be requested in the application. As DPO is an entirely new domain for the Agency, these activities in accordance with the principles in the F&C regulation will be charged on an hourly rate basis. This is stated under Chapter IV, Article 21, Subparagraph 2 (page 10 of Regulation 2019/2153):

“The hourly rates set out in Part II of the Annex shall apply as of the entry into force of this Regulation to any tasks ongoing at the entry into force of this Regulation and for which fees or charges are calculated on an hourly basis.”

The level of effort depends on a number of specific factors linked to the organization itself and the type of equipment under consideration, so the assessment is done based on the documentation and exposition of activities accompanying the application. This is why EASA only provides detailed estimates in conjunction with a submitted application. The following provides additional detail:

• An applicant is entitled to request a financial quotation, and the Agency will provide the quotation before starting the investigation. This ensures that the DPO applicant has all the financial elements to make a business decision. An applicant can request a financial estimate (including working hours) via point 8 of the Application form. After submitting the application, EASA will reply with a quotation of estimated cost. Invoicing will be done based on the actual effort.
• The production of the estimate should not last more than a few working days, in parallel to the assessment of technical and administrative eligibility of the application, and the information is provided to the applicant. Procedurally, there is a maximum period of 90 days for the applicant to evaluate the quote and accept it.
• If the applicant would decide not to accept the quotation, there would be no fees/charges incurred. The investigation would start once the quotation is accepted.
• It is also important to be aware that an approved DPO organisation will incur additional costs under the EASA oversight activity. This oversight activity will also be invoiced for hours worked and travel costs.

If an organization has other questions linked to filling out the DPO application forms or about the logic applied to the initial investigation in order to better prepare the approach, it is possible to schedule a “pre-application” meeting with EASA to clarify specific points before an application is formally submitted.

The current EU-USA Bilateral Agreement and the EASA-FAA Technical Implementation Procedures (TIP) do not address ATM/ANS ground equipment conformity assessment and ATM/ANS design or production organisation approval.

In accordance with ATM/ANS.EQMT.CERT.005 'Eligibility', any natural or legal person who has demonstrated, or is in the process of demonstrating (i.e. is an applicant), their design capability in accordance with point ATM/ANS.EQMT.CERT.010, may apply for the issuance of an ATM/ANS equipment certificate. This includes non-EU (e.g., US) stakeholders. 

Responsibilities in relation to ‘routine maintenance’ are in the sphere of the ATM/ANS provider’s responsibilities as prescribed under Regulation (EU) 2017/373, and are performed following the instructions/manuals provided by the design and production organisation of the equipment.

Therefore, there is no need to become an approved DPO in order to perform the maintenance.

In contrast, a change to already deployed equipment must be performed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2023/1768. During the transition period, the air navigation service provider (ANSP) may change the equipment using a 'Statement of Compliance'. However, after the transition period, the implementation of changes for equipment subject to Article 4 or 5 will require an approved DPO.

It depends on the criticality and the categories. For example, Air/Ground communciation is certified equipment, so it need to be certified. If it involves AIS or MET,then there are two possibilities: a Statement of Compliance can be issued by the ANSP, or the ANSP can contract this to an approved DPO.

In those cases, yes, the ANSP has to be certified as an approved DPO to have those privileges.

The definition of major/minor changes are provided at the AMC/GM level. Further details on the delineation between minor and major changes will be clarified in the forthcoming set of AMC/GM associated to Regulation (EU) 2023/1769 and apply regardless of when the system was deployed/implemented.

The details for the notification and management (incl.) documentation) of minor changes are illustrated at AMC/GM level.

The DPO is eligible to design and implement minor changes to its CERT/DECL equipment, but has to notify these changes to EASA in any case.
The DPO is required to communicate to the ANSP any update to the technical manuals and maintenance instructions of the equipment. 
The ANSP is responsible to notify a change to the functional system in accordance with the change management procedure approved by the competent authority, which may or may not require prior approval.

It is acknowledged that there is an EU-USA agreement on cooperation in the regulation of civil aviation safety (i.e. via a Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA)). However, there currently are no Technical Implementation Procedures (TIP) for ATM/ANS equipment in place to allow direct acceptance/recognition of FAA approvals/certificates.

First step is to assess the scope of the equipment and which function it supports. This assessment will determine the category to which it belongs.

The new regulatory framework clearly defined the ATM/ANS equipment subject to the various attestation methods – certification/ declaration of design compliance and statement of compliance. The scope will be further illustrated at DS/AMC/GM level.

No, the PSR that only performs the surveillance function does not require certification.

Since the PSR is used to provide surveillance data for the purpose of ensuring safe and interoperable air navigation, it is considered ATM/ANS equipment that falls under Article 5(1)(b) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1768. Therefore, a PSR would require a declaration of design compliance (see also Annex III to Regulation (EU) 2023/1768) rather than certification.

At the moment, DSs only contain general requirements for PSRs, but no specific technical requirements. However, DSs will follow regular updates in accordance with Rulemaking Task (RMT).0744.

The key criteria for the equipment is the intended function that the equipment supports. Software (SW) per se is not always subject to certification but the function the SW supports. If the intended supported function is not subject to certification, then the SW is not required to undergo the certification process. In the example, an ADS-B station will support the SUR function, and thus, as per Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1768, the equipment (including the associated SW) will be subject to a declaration by a design or production organisation (DPO).

 Yes, if those are part of the equipment definition that is subject to the certification/declaration process.

Boundaries of the system / constituent are defined by the DPO. As such, COTS IT equipment can be well outside of the system subject to certification / declaration. Such system can be composed of SW only.

When a certain equipment requires underlying/supporting infrastructure (e.g. IT, network, cloud), the characteristics and requirements for this infrastructure are to be defined by the DPO and provided to the ANSP with the installation and operation instructions and any other integration requirements. The underlying infrastructure does not necessitate to be part of the equipment design and therefore does not necessarily form part of the certification envelope.

The ANSP has to demonstrate to meet the functional requirements and the interface requirements. If the system is cloud based, then it is possible that the information security aspects may require specific scrutiny. However, the requirements are not dictating any specific architecture or HW/SW.

The design or production organisation (DPO) should anticipate the SWAL that is expected by the air navigation service provider (ANSP). This SWAL needs to be incorporated into the DPO’s software development process of the equipment. The EASA attestation is granted according to that SWAL. It is the responsibility of the DPO to declare the SWAL that will be followed for the development of the equipment. This needs to be documented by the DPO in the certification programme.

The ANSP has the responsibility to select equipment in accordance with the safety assessment and the SWAL requirement for the functional system.

See answer to FAQ ‘Who is going to define softwares / software assurance level (SWAL) requirements for a particular ATM/ANS system? EASA, ANSP, ...?’. 

This is similar to the case of safety objectives; the market will tend to provide products that are demanded by the ANSPs. A design or production organisation (DPO) will develop products per their anticipated selected software assurance level (SWAL). The ANSP will select the equipment that meet the required SWAL to meet their safety objectives of the functional system.

See also answer to FAQ ‘Who is going to define software/SWAL requirements for a particular ATM/ANS system? EASA, ANSP, ...?’.

See answer to FAQ ‘Who is going to define software/SWAL requirements for a particular ATM/ANS system? EASA, ANSP, ...?’.

The new regulatory framework consisting of 5 regulations has been published on 15 September 2023 and will be applicable as from beginning of October 2023. Any DS/AMC/GM will be associated to facilitate the implementation of the ATM/ANS ground equipment conformity assessment. If a regulated party is not in a position to apply any of the requirements, the Flexibility provisions under Article 71 of EASA BR could be applied for a certain period of time.

Considering that the detailed specifications are “soft law”, deviations to the detailed specifications (i.e., non-compliances) can be declared within the statement of compliance. Please refer to the associated AMC/GM Article 6 of the Delegated Act.

There will be need for coordination and information exchange between EASA and NSAs. If the question is about possible contribution of NSA into EASA assessments, then it is reminded that partnership agreements are possible. EASA intends to make use of that instrument, to get support from NSAs when needed.

Some of the elements of the list will be included in EASA registry that is going to be created. For elements A and B, EASA needs to consider which info could be public. EASA does not anticipate the need for C at the moment. For d. the information will be made available to interested parties, for example, for occurrence reporting. This needs to be assessed internally, but at the moment EASA does not anticipate making this available for public information.

In fact, systems that require attestation are defined in Articles 4, 5 and 6 of the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1768. All these systems have to fulfil at least the general requirements contained in the detailed specifications. Additionally, systems will have to comply to specific detailed specifications in case they are available.

EFS falls in the scope of the ATC equipment that supports ATCO’s in providing separation. 

It is a decision of the DPO to set the boundaries of the equipment that they wish to certify/declare.

COTS HW is not automatically excluded because it is COTS. However, if COTS HW is part of the supporting infrastructure, then it may fall out of the product boundaries.

Yes, it is applicable for all in Part 2.

Not exactly. E.g. point 3 of Annex VIII (Essential requirements) of EASA Basic Regulation also refers to “The systems and procedures shall include in particular those required to support the following functions and services (…)”. Thus, the principle is the same. As regards the integration, it remains as today the ATM/ANS provider’s responsibilities as only the ANSP has the global picture of the complete functional systems and how it will behave or continue to behave after the integration.

Yes, the integration should be assessed as part of the change to the functional system.

They will be introduced in due course, at further updates, as EASA moves forward. Hopefully, before the transition period expires.

Equipment that falls under Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1768 is subject to compliance with the DSs in DS-GE.SoC. The attestation of compliance must be made through an SoC.

DSs contain general requirements that must be complied with (Subpart A ‘General’ in DS-GE.SoC), even when there are no lower-level specific requirements in the DSs. Therefore, an SoC is required when the equipment falls under Article 6, even when there are no specific DSs.

That is correct.

It is not the lack of lower-level specific requirements in a DS that determines if certain equipment is subject to CERT/DECL/SoC, but rather Articles 4, 5, and 6 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1768.

Articles 4, 5 and 6 address what is included at each category.  Therefore, equipment supporting air traffic control (ATC) service provision will be subject to compliance with the DSs.

It is important to note that DSs always contain general requirements that must be complied with, even when there are no lower-level specific requirements in the DS.

The release form is a declaration that what the manufacturer produced is in compliance with the applicable detailed specifications. There is no requirement or need for additional evidences.

According to the transitional provisions, systems in operation before 5 October (entry into force date) holding EC declarations in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 552/2004 are deemed to have been issued with certificate, declaration, or statement of compliance.

In case of major change, there is a need to reissue the SoC.   

During provisional period, it is possible to issue a statement of compliance (SoC). It becomes legacy equipment at the start of 2028. Therefore, legacy ATM/ANS GE issued with a SoC during this transition period (2023-2028) will be subject to evaluation by EASA and subject to certification/declaration. After 2028, this path will be closed.

Between 2023 and 2028, attestation of equipment is achieved though a SoC.  After 2028, there will be an EASA evaluation. If those equipment are installed, they will remain in operation. But if they need to be updated/modified, there will be a need to conduct certification/declaration.

EASA confirms that during transition period, the main means for attestation will be the Statement of Compliance (SoC) by the ANSP.

To have a certificate of equipment, we need to have an approved DPO. However, during the transitional period, there may not be many approved DPOs. Therefore, the main means would be the SOC.

During the transition period (2023-2027) there will be a mixture of DPOs and equipment that is certified, and Statements of Compliance (SoC). If there is a certificate of conformity, then there is no need for the ATM/ANS provider to issue a SoC.
 

During the transition period (13 September 2028):

• ATM/ANS equipment subject to certification and ATM/ANS equipment subject to declaration of design compliance shall be deemed to have been issued with a certificate or declaration respectively in accordance with Article 4 or Article 5 on a provision basis, i.e. unless the Agency determine based on an assessment that such ATM/ANS equipment does not ensure a level of safety, security, performance and interoperability equivalent to that required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and the new delegated act.
• ATM/ANS equipment which is subject to a statement of compliance, the EC declarations of verification (DoV) of systems that have been issued shall continue to be valid for an unlimited duration and shall be deemed to have a statement of compliance pursuant to Article 6 of the new delegated act.

EPAS 2023-2025 contains 3 new tasks, 2 for the regulatory activities (covering the detailed specifications, AMC and GM material), and also 1 task requiring implementation support to Stakeholders (National Supervisory Authorities). EASA is also thinking about additional ways that materials can provided to any stakeholder to facilitate common understanding (e.g. Specific trainings and presentations, FAQs, etc).