Certified Next-generation Unmanned Aircraft Systems Engineers (CNG-UAS-E) Certification Program by Tonex
- Program Description
The Certified Next-generation Unmanned Aircraft Systems Engineers (CNG-UAS-E) program is a specialized engineering certification for teams involved in the development, integration, verification, qualification, and certification support of advanced unmanned aircraft systems.
The program focuses on the engineering lifecycle for next-generation UAS platforms, including autonomous aircraft, remotely piloted aircraft, optionally piloted aircraft, tactical UAS, group 2–5 UAS, high-altitude long-endurance systems, cargo drones, ISR platforms, and missionized unmanned aircraft.
Certified Next-generation Unmanned Aircraft Systems Engineers (CNG-UAS-E) prepares engineering teams to develop safer, more reliable, more certifiable UAS platforms by integrating ARP4754B development practices, ARP4761A safety assessment methods, rigorous requirements engineering, systems safety, and DO-160G environmental qualification planning into one practical engineering workflow.
This certification is ideal for organizations developing advanced UAS platforms where engineering rigor, safety, traceability, qualification, and certification readiness are essential to program success.
The certification integrates:
- ARP4754B for aircraft and system development lifecycle discipline
- ARP4761A for safety assessment methods and safety-driven design
- Requirements Engineering for rigorous, traceable, verifiable requirements
- Systems Safety for hazard identification, safety requirements, and risk reduction
- DO-160G for airborne equipment environmental qualification planning and test readiness
ARP4754B provides guidance for civil aircraft and systems development, including development assurance, validation, verification, safety, certification, and product assurance practices. ARP4761A and EUROCAE ED-135 provide guidance for conducting safety assessments for civil aircraft, systems, and equipment, including use in support of compliance with certification requirements. DO-160G provides environmental conditions and test procedures for airborne equipment, and FAA AC 21-16G identifies DO-160G as acceptable environmental qualification guidance for showing compliance with certain airworthiness requirements.
- Certification Purpose
The purpose of CNG-UAS-E is to prepare engineering teams to apply structured aircraft systems engineering and safety practices to UAS development programs.
The program helps participants answer questions such as:
- How do we define UAS functions, operational scenarios, and system architectures?
- How do we develop requirements that are complete, testable, traceable, and safety-informed?
- How do we connect aircraft-level hazards to system-level and equipment-level requirements?
- How do we apply ARP4754B and ARP4761A in a practical UAS program?
- How do we plan DO-160G environmental qualification for airborne equipment?
- How do we produce engineering evidence that supports development assurance and certification readiness?
- How do we manage autonomy, command and control, mission payloads, data links, ground systems, and contingency operations?
- Target Audience
This certification is designed for:
- UAS systems engineers
- UAS design engineers
- avionics engineers
- safety engineers
- requirements engineers
- software and hardware development leads
- flight controls engineers
- payload integration engineers
- certification engineers
- verification and validation engineers
- test engineers
- program managers and technical leads
- airworthiness and compliance teams
- quality, reliability, and mission assurance personnel
- defense, civil, public safety, and commercial UAS engineering teams
- Prerequisites
Recommended background:
- Basic knowledge of aircraft systems or UAS architecture
- Familiarity with systems engineering principles
- Basic understanding of verification and validation
- Exposure to safety, reliability, or certification concepts
No prior certification in ARP4754B, ARP4761A, or DO-160G is required, but participants should have engineering or technical program experience.
- Program Duration Options
Option A: 3-Day Intensive Certification Course
Best for teams needing a focused introduction and practical framework.
- Learning Objectives
By the end of the CNG-UAS-E program, participants will be able to:
- Explain the engineering lifecycle for next-generation UAS development.
- Apply ARP4754B concepts to UAS aircraft and system development.
- Develop aircraft-level, system-level, subsystem-level, and equipment-level requirements.
- Write high-quality requirements that are necessary, verifiable, unambiguous, complete, and traceable.
- Connect operational scenarios, CONOPS, functions, hazards, and requirements.
- Perform functional decomposition for UAS systems.
- Build a UAS architecture covering aircraft, payload, C2 link, ground control station, autonomy stack, navigation, power, propulsion, and safety systems.
- Apply ARP4761A safety assessment methods to UAS development.
- Conduct Functional Hazard Assessment, Preliminary System Safety Assessment, System Safety Assessment, and Common Cause Analysis at a practical level.
- Allocate safety objectives and safety requirements to UAS systems.
- Understand development assurance and its relationship to system safety.
- Prepare a requirements validation and verification strategy.
- Develop traceability from mission needs to aircraft functions, hazards, requirements, verification evidence, and safety artifacts.
- Plan DO-160G environmental qualification for airborne UAS equipment.
- Identify UAS-specific safety concerns, including loss of command link, lost communications, fly-away, detect-and-avoid failure, navigation degradation, autonomy malfunction, power loss, propulsion failure, payload hazards, and emergency recovery.
- Support engineering reviews, design assurance reviews, safety reviews, and certification-readiness reviews.
Certification Competencies
The CNG-UAS-E certification validates that participants can demonstrate competency in six areas:
| Competency Area | Description |
| UAS Systems Architecture | Ability to define UAS elements, interfaces, functions, operational modes, and architecture views. |
| ARP4754B Lifecycle Application | Ability to apply aircraft/system development processes, requirements validation, verification, and development assurance concepts. |
| Requirements Engineering | Ability to develop, analyze, validate, verify, manage, and trace requirements. |
| ARP4761A Safety Assessment | Ability to apply safety assessment methods and connect hazards to safety requirements. |
| DO-160G Qualification Planning | Ability to plan environmental qualification categories, test strategy, and evidence needs. |
| Engineering Integration | Ability to integrate requirements, architecture, safety, V&V, test, and certification evidence into a coherent UAS development approach. |
- Core UAS System Elements Covered
The program covers a next-generation UAS as a system of systems, including:
Air Vehicle
- airframe
- propulsion
- power distribution
- energy storage
- flight control system
- navigation system
- sensors
- avionics
- mission computer
- payload bay
- landing/recovery system
- health monitoring system
Ground Segment
- ground control station
- mission planning system
- launch and recovery equipment
- remote pilot interface
- command and control console
- maintenance and diagnostics tools
Communications Segment
- command and control data link
- telemetry link
- payload data link
- beyond-line-of-sight communications
- satcom integration
- encryption and authentication
- lost-link behavior
Autonomy and Mission Systems
- flight management
- autonomy manager
- detect-and-avoid
- route planning
- contingency management
- mission payload control
- onboard decision support
- AI/ML-enabled perception or autonomy functions, where applicable
Safety-Critical Functions
- flight control
- navigation
- propulsion control
- power management
- command and control
- detect-and-avoid
- lost-link recovery
- emergency landing
- geo-containment
- flight termination, where applicable
- health monitoring and fault management
- Three-Day Course Agenda
Part 1 — UAS Systems Engineering and ARP4754B Foundations
Module 1: Next-generation UAS Development Context
Topics:
- UAS categories and mission profiles
- civil, defense, public safety, and commercial UAS applications
- UAS as an aircraft system and system of systems
- major UAS development challenges
- autonomy, remote operation, and safety implications
- certification and airworthiness considerations
- relationship between UAS engineering, safety, qualification, and compliance
Workshop:
UAS Mission and CONOPS Definition
Participants define a UAS mission profile, operational environment, operational modes, and key assumptions.
Deliverable:
- draft UAS CONOPS summary
- mission scenario table
- operating environment assumptions
Module 2: ARP4754B Overview for UAS Engineers
Topics:
- purpose and scope of ARP4754B
- aircraft and system development lifecycle
- development planning
- aircraft functions and system functions
- requirement capture and allocation
- architecture development
- validation and verification
- configuration management
- process assurance
- development assurance
- safety-driven development
Workshop:
Mapping ARP4754B Lifecycle to a UAS Program
Participants map development activities to a UAS lifecycle.
Deliverable:
- UAS lifecycle process map
- development artifact checklist
Module 3: UAS Functional Analysis and Architecture
Topics:
- aircraft-level functions
- mission-level functions
- functional decomposition
- function-to-system allocation
- operational mode analysis
- interface definition
- architecture patterns for UAS
- distributed UAS architecture
- aircraft-ground-data-link architecture
- safety-critical and mission-critical separation
Workshop:
UAS Functional Decomposition
Participants decompose a UAS into aircraft, ground, communication, payload, autonomy, and safety functions.
Deliverable:
- functional decomposition diagram
- function allocation matrix
Part 2 — Requirements Engineering for UAS Development
Module 4: Requirements Engineering Principles
Topics:
- stakeholder needs
- operational requirements
- aircraft-level requirements
- system requirements
- subsystem and equipment requirements
- derived requirements
- interface requirements
- safety requirements
- environmental qualification requirements
- verification requirements
- requirements quality criteria
A good requirement should be:
- necessary
- clear
- atomic
- feasible
- verifiable
- unambiguous
- traceable
- implementation-independent where appropriate
Workshop:
Writing High-Quality UAS Requirements
Participants rewrite weak requirements into strong, verifiable requirements.
Deliverable:
- requirements quality checklist
- corrected requirement set
Module 5: Requirements Allocation and Traceability
Topics:
- mission need to requirement traceability
- CONOPS to function traceability
- function to system traceability
- hazard to safety requirement traceability
- requirement to verification traceability
- traceability matrix design
- requirements change control
- requirements baseline management
- bidirectional traceability
Workshop:
Build a UAS Requirements Traceability Matrix
Participants create a traceability chain from mission need to system requirement, safety requirement, and verification method.
Deliverable:
- UAS RTM template
- sample completed traceability records
Module 6: UAS Interface and Mode Requirements
Topics:
- air vehicle interfaces
- ground control station interfaces
- command and control interfaces
- payload interfaces
- power interfaces
- data bus interfaces
- RF/data link interfaces
- cybersecurity-relevant interface requirements
- normal, degraded, emergency, and maintenance modes
- lost-link and contingency mode requirements
Workshop:
Mode and Interface Requirement Development
Participants develop requirements for normal flight, lost link, emergency return, manual override, and payload operation.
Deliverable:
- mode transition table
- interface requirements sample set
Part 3 — Systems Safety and ARP4761A Safety Assessment
Module 7: Systems Safety for UAS
Topics:
- safety lifecycle
- safety concepts and terminology
- failure conditions
- severity classification
- hazard identification
- safety objectives
- safety requirements
- UAS-specific hazards
- operational risk and airworthiness risk
- human factors and remote pilot interaction
- autonomy and safety
- safety case thinking
UAS hazard examples:
- loss of command and control link
- loss of navigation
- erroneous flight control command
- propulsion failure
- power distribution failure
- fly-away
- controlled flight into terrain
- mid-air collision
- detect-and-avoid failure
- unsafe autonomous decision
- payload release malfunction
- emergency landing failure
Workshop:
UAS Hazard Identification
Participants identify hazards from a UAS mission scenario and classify severity.
Deliverable:
- preliminary hazard list
- hazard severity classification table
Module 8: ARP4761A Methods and Safety Process
Topics:
- role of ARP4761A in aircraft and system safety assessment
- safety assessment process overview
- Functional Hazard Assessment
- Preliminary Aircraft Safety Assessment
- Preliminary System Safety Assessment
- System Safety Assessment
- Fault Tree Analysis
- Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
- Common Cause Analysis
- Zonal Safety Analysis
- Particular Risks Analysis
- safety requirements allocation
- verification of safety requirements
Workshop:
FHA and PSSA for a UAS Function
Participants perform an FHA and develop preliminary safety requirements for a selected UAS function.
Deliverable:
- FHA worksheet
- PSSA worksheet
- safety requirements list
Module 9: Safety-Driven Architecture and Design Assurance
Topics:
- connecting ARP4754B and ARP4761A
- hazard-driven requirements
- architecture mitigation strategies
- redundancy
- independence
- monitoring
- partitioning
- fail-safe and fail-operational design
- graceful degradation
- contingency management
- development assurance level concepts
- evidence planning
Workshop:
Safety-Driven UAS Architecture Review
Participants review a UAS architecture and recommend safety-driven design changes.
Deliverable:
- safety architecture review checklist
- mitigation recommendation matrix
Part 4 — Verification, Validation, DO-160G, and Qualification Planning
Module 10: Verification and Validation for UAS Systems
Topics:
- validation versus verification
- requirements validation
- design verification
- verification methods: test, analysis, inspection, demonstration
- simulation-based verification
- hardware-in-the-loop testing
- software-in-the-loop testing
- flight test planning
- regression testing
- acceptance criteria
- evidence management
- verification credit
- issue and anomaly management
Workshop:
UAS Verification Strategy
Participants create verification methods and acceptance criteria for selected UAS requirements.
Deliverable:
- verification matrix
- sample test acceptance criteria
Module 11: DO-160G Environmental Qualification for UAS Equipment
Topics:
- purpose of DO-160G
- airborne equipment environmental qualification
- equipment categories
- environmental test planning
- temperature and altitude
- temperature variation
- humidity
- operational shocks and crash safety
- vibration
- waterproofness
- fluids susceptibility
- sand and dust
- fungus
- salt fog
- magnetic effect
- power input
- voltage spike
- audio frequency conducted susceptibility
- induced signal susceptibility
- radio frequency susceptibility
- emission of radio frequency energy
- lightning induced transient susceptibility
- electrostatic discharge
- fire and flammability
- qualification test plans
- qualification by similarity
- test reports and evidence
DO-160G is especially important for UAS airborne equipment such as flight computers, navigation equipment, data link radios, payload controllers, power electronics, batteries, sensors, and mission computers.
Workshop:
DO-160G Qualification Planning for UAS Avionics
Participants select environmental categories and define a qualification approach for a UAS mission computer or C2 radio.
Deliverable:
- DO-160G qualification planning worksheet
- environmental test applicability matrix
Module 12: Integrated Test and Certification Evidence
Topics:
- integrated verification planning
- safety verification
- environmental qualification evidence
- traceability to requirements
- conformity and configuration control
- test readiness reviews
- qualification readiness reviews
- certification evidence package
- technical review gates
- engineering change impact assessment
Workshop:
Certification Evidence Package Planning
Participants define an evidence package for a UAS subsystem.
Deliverable:
- evidence package outline
- review gate checklist
Part 5 — Integrated UAS Engineering Practicum and Certification Exam
Integrated UAS Development Case Study
Participants work through an integrated case study for a next-generation UAS, such as:
Case Study: Medium-Range Autonomous ISR UAS
System features:
- electric or hybrid propulsion
- autonomous mission management
- EO/IR payload
- ground control station
- C2 data link
- GPS/INS navigation
- detect-and-avoid interface
- emergency return-to-base mode
- BESS or onboard battery system
- environmental qualification requirements
Team tasks:
- Define CONOPS and mission scenario.
- Identify aircraft and system functions.
- Develop initial architecture.
- Create aircraft/system requirements.
- Identify hazards.
- Develop FHA records.
- Allocate safety requirements.
- Plan verification methods.
- Plan DO-160G qualification.
- Build traceability from mission need to evidence.
Deliverable:
- Mini UAS development assurance package
Capstone Review
Each team presents:
- UAS architecture
- key requirements
- hazard analysis
- safety requirements
- verification strategy
- DO-160G qualification approach
- traceability map
- top program risks
Instructor feedback focuses on:
- requirement quality
- safety completeness
- architecture consistency
- verification realism
- DO-160G applicability
- traceability strength
- development assurance logic
Module 15: Certification Exam
The program concludes with a certification exam.
- Exam Domains and Weights
| Domain | Weight |
| Domain 1: UAS Systems Architecture and Engineering Lifecycle | 15% |
| Domain 2: ARP4754B Aircraft and System Development | 20% |
| Domain 3: Requirements Engineering and Traceability | 20% |
| Domain 4: Systems Safety and ARP4761A Safety Assessment | 25% |
| Domain 5: DO-160G Environmental Qualification | 10% |
| Domain 6: Integrated Verification, Validation, and Certification Evidence | 10% |
- Exam Format
Recommended exam format:
- 40 multiple-choice questions
- Duration: 90 minutes
- Passing score: 70%
- Passing Criteria
Participants earn the CNG-UAS-E credential by meeting all requirements:
- Attend the required training sessions.
- Complete required workshops and capstone exercises.
- Score at least 70% on the certification exam.
- Demonstrate practical understanding of:
- UAS architecture
- ARP4754B lifecycle concepts
- ARP4761A safety assessment concepts
- requirements traceability
- DO-160G qualification planning
- V&V evidence development
Recommended credential validity:
- Valid for 3 years
- Renewal through continuing education, project experience, or refresher assessment
- Practical Templates Included
The certification should include a participant toolkit with the following templates:
- UAS CONOPS template
- UAS operational scenario worksheet
- UAS functional decomposition template
- UAS architecture checklist
- aircraft-level requirements template
- system requirements template
- interface requirements template
- requirements quality checklist
- requirements traceability matrix
- hazard identification worksheet
- FHA worksheet
- PSSA worksheet
- FTA starter template
- FMEA worksheet
- common cause analysis checklist
- safety requirements allocation matrix
- verification planning matrix
- validation checklist
- DO-160G environmental qualification planning worksheet
- test readiness review checklist
- certification evidence package outline
- engineering review gate checklist
- Program Modules Summary
| Module | Title | Primary Output |
| 1 | Next-generation UAS Development Context | UAS CONOPS |
| 2 | ARP4754B Foundations | Lifecycle process map |
| 3 | UAS Functional Analysis and Architecture | Functional architecture |
| 4 | Requirements Engineering | Quality requirements |
| 5 | Requirements Allocation and Traceability | RTM |
| 6 | Interface and Mode Requirements | Interface/mode table |
| 7 | Systems Safety for UAS | Preliminary hazard list |
| 8 | ARP4761A Methods | FHA/PSSA |
| 9 | Safety-Driven Architecture | Mitigation matrix |
| 10 | Verification and Validation | Verification matrix |
| 11 | DO-160G Qualification | Qualification plan |
- Suggested Capstone Scenario
Scenario: Autonomous ISR UAS Development Program
A defense customer is developing a next-generation unmanned ISR aircraft with:
- 12-hour endurance
- EO/IR payload
- beyond-line-of-sight communications
- autonomous mission execution
- lost-link return-to-base mode
- GPS/INS navigation
- onboard health monitoring
- emergency recovery function
- modular mission payload architecture
Participants must produce:
- mission CONOPS
- system architecture
- function list
- requirements set
- hazard list
- FHA
- safety requirements
- verification matrix
- DO-160G qualification plan
- certification-readiness evidence map