The Nimrod Review - Official Documents

The Nimrod Review
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D Tech
AD(Eng)Pol
SofS Defence
CDL CGS CNS
DGES(Air)
Letters of delegation
Letters of delegation
FLC
Cluster Leaders
1 Group
Cluster Leaders
2 Group
Letters IPTLs/ of delegation PEs
CAS CDP
Letters of delegation
Letters of delegation
Figure. 13.5: Letters of Delegation Chain(s) in DLO
DASMS, DASSRR, JATAAM, DASC and ‘virtual’ MAA.
13.134
13.135
13.136
13.137
By 2005, the DASC Joint Review of Airworthiness was already beginning to conclude that the complexity of
the MoD’s aviation organisation, compounded by successive organisational changes, meant that the structure
of airworthiness regulation and delegation was convoluted, easily misunderstood and contained a number of
weaknesses (see above). It recommended a two phase solution:
The first phase included the replacement of the DASC Airworthiness Branch with a Safety Management
System Branch, the introduction of a pan-Defence Aviation Safety Management System (DASMS) and the
introduction of a Defence Aviation Safety Strategic Risk Register (DASSRR). These recommendations were
actioned.
The second phase was to be a review of pan-Defence aviation management that might lead to the creation
of a Military Aviation Authority (MAA). This recommendation was reinforced when the new Chief of Defence
Logistics (CDL) and the head of Airworthiness Design Requirements and Procedures (ADRP), wrote to the Vice
Chief of the Defence Staff (VCDS) in June 2005 asking him to consider the requirement for a MAA. A MAA
Study team was formed, and, in December 2005, it reported that:
a. A stand-alone MAA was not required, but this should be reviewed in two years. The Study envisaged
a ‘virtual’ MAA in which the functions, structure and management would be clearly identified, but the
components would not necessarily be collocated.
b. The DASC and the MoD Aviation Regulatory Team (MART) 50 should be co-located. (This co-location
occurred in April 2008 when the DASC and the MART merged to form the Directorate of Aviation
Regulation and Safety (DARS)).
c. A separate study was required to examine options for the better management of MOD air traffic and
airspace issues. It was envisaged that Airspace and Air Traffic Management policy and regulation could
be brought under a single organisation: a proposed MOD Directorate of Joint Air Traffic and Airspace
Management (JATAM).
The implementation of the MAA and JATAM Studies was, however, delayed due to a variety of reasons
including debates over terms of reference, leadership, ‘dual-hatting’ and interactions with other Government
Departments, together with constraints on physical locations due to estate rationalisation.
50 The MART was located at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset, under the line management of Director Air Staff.
DAWS