RTCA DO-160: Environmental Testing Standard for Airborne Equipment
RTCA DO-160 is the primary environmental testing standard for airborne electrical and electronic equipment. It defines the laboratory test conditions and procedures used to verify that equipment can survive and operate correctly under the environmental stresses encountered during flight operations.
Its full title is Environmental Conditions and Test Procedures for Airborne Equipment. RTCA Special Committee SC-135 develops it in coordination with EUROCAE Working Group 14, and the FAA references it through Advisory Circular AC 21-16G. EASA references it through CS-ETSO, alongside the identically worded EUROCAE ED-14G.
DO-160G is the current revision, published on 8 December 2010, and is the version most commonly specified for civil, military and unmanned airborne platforms. Revision H was in final review and comment during 2026 and had not been published at the time of writing.
What Is RTCA DO-160?
RTCA DO-160 defines how airborne equipment must be tested rather than how it must perform. It is an environmental qualification standard, not a performance standard. Its purpose is to confirm that equipment keeps its function and structural integrity under the mechanical, climatic and electromagnetic conditions it will meet throughout its operational life.
The standard applies to a wide range of equipment, including avionics computers, communication and navigation systems, power distribution units, lighting controllers, NVIS-compatible lamps and flight data sensors. The performance requirements themselves come from elsewhere: a TSO or ETSO, a minimum performance standard or the purchaser’s specification.
Qualification to DO-160 is the usual way to show that such equipment is fit for installation on an aircraft, for example under a TSO or ETSO, and many military aircraft programmes call it up as well.
For defence equipment installed on dual-use or airborne platforms, compliance with RTCA DO-160 is often required alongside MIL-STD-810 for environmental testing and MIL-STD-461 for electromagnetic compatibility.
DO-160 Revisions and Which One to Specify
Each revision letter marks a full reissue of the document, and several are still quoted in live specifications. That matters to a buyer, because a qualification report is only valid against the revision that the contract or certification basis names.
FAA Advisory Circular AC 21-16G, dated 22 June 2011, accepts versions D (with Changes 1 to 3), E, F and G, and strongly encourages DO-160G for new articles. EASA’s CS-ETSO lists the same versions in their joint ED-14 and DO-160 form, up to ED-14G Change 1.
For a new lighting or avionics programme, DO-160G is therefore the revision to name. Once revision H is published, check which revision the aircraft’s certification basis and the contract call up before a test plan is written.
RTCA DO-160 Testing: Key Test Sections
RTCA DO-160 environmental testing is divided into sections, each covering a specific environmental stress. DO-160G has 26 sections and three appendices, and the environmental and electrical tests run from Section 4 to Section 26. Equipment is tested against the sections relevant to its installed location and operational environment.
| Section | Test Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Section 4 | Temperature and Altitude | Simulates temperature extremes and reduced pressure at altitude |
| Section 5 | Temperature Variation | Rapid thermal cycling between hot and cold extremes |
| Section 6 | Humidity | Exposure to high humidity and condensation |
| Section 7 | Operational Shocks and Crash Safety | Function after operational shocks; equipment stays attached in an emergency landing |
| Section 8 | Vibration | Confirms function under continuous vibration and turbulence |
| Section 9 | Explosive Atmosphere | Tests safety in fuel vapour environments |
| Section 10 | Waterproofness | Protection against condensing and dripping water, rain, spray and heavy fluid streams |
| Section 11 | Fluids Susceptibility | Exposure to fluids such as fuels, hydraulic fluids and cleaning agents |
| Section 12 | Sand and Dust | Blowing sand and dust |
| Section 13 | Fungus Resistance | Resistance to fungal growth |
| Section 14 | Salt Fog | Corrosive salt atmosphere |
| Section 15 | Magnetic Effect | Magnetic field of the equipment, measured as compass deflection |
| Section 16 | Power Input | Operation on normal and abnormal aircraft electrical power |
| Section 17 | Voltage Spike | Voltage spikes on the power leads |
| Section 18 | Audio Frequency Conducted Susceptibility, Power Inputs | Audio frequency ripple on the power inputs |
| Section 19 | Induced Signal Susceptibility | Interference induced into the equipment and its wiring by nearby cables and fields |
| Section 20 | Radio Frequency Susceptibility (Conducted and Radiated) | Immunity to RF fields and to RF currents on the cables |
| Section 21 | Emission of Radio Frequency Energy | Measures RF emissions from the equipment itself |
| Section 22 | Lightning Induced Transient Susceptibility | Transients that lightning induces in aircraft wiring, by pin injection and cable bundle tests |
| Section 23 | Lightning Direct Effects | Direct strike attachment on externally mounted equipment |
| Section 24 | Icing | Ice formation on the equipment |
| Section 25 | Electrostatic Discharge | Tests resilience to static discharge events |
| Section 26 | Fire and Flammability | Fire resistance and flammability of the equipment |
Each section assigns severity categories based on the equipment’s installed location on the aircraft. A cockpit-mounted display faces different temperature and vibration profiles than an externally mounted antenna or an unpressurised avionics bay component.
RTCA DO-160 Category Levels
The standard uses categories to define how severe the test conditions must be for each piece of equipment. There is no single category scale for the whole document: each section has its own letters, chosen for the installed location, the aircraft type or the threat level.
| Section | Categories | What the code tells you |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Temperature | A1 to F3 | Letter: altitude and pressurisation. Digit: temperature control of the location. |
| 8 Vibration | S, R, U, U2, H, Z | Standard, robust or high-level short duration; curve set by aircraft type and zone. |
| 10 Water | Y, W, R, S | Condensing, dripping, driving rain or spray, heavy fluid stream. |
| 22 Lightning | Five characters | Pin injection (A, B) and cable bundle (C to M) waveform sets, with test levels. |
Section 4 shows how the codes work. The letter sets the maximum altitude and whether the location is pressurised:
- A1 to A4: pressurised or temperature-controlled locations, up to 15,000 ft or its cabin equivalent.
- B1 to B4: non-pressurised, up to 25,000 ft.
- C1 to C4: non-pressurised, up to 35,000 ft.
- D1 to D3: non-pressurised, up to 50,000 ft.
- F1 to F3: non-pressurised, up to 55,000 ft.
- E1 and E2: non-pressurised, up to 70,000 ft.
In groups B, C, D and F, digit 1 is a temperature-controlled location, 2 an uncontrolled one and 3 the power plant compartment. Digit 4 covers locations whose temperature requirements differ from 1 and 2, and group E has only E1 (uncontrolled) and E2 (power plant).
Correctly identifying the installation category is a critical step in test planning. Equipment tested to a lower category than its actual installation environment may fail in service, even if it passed its qualification testing.
RTCA DO-160 and Aviation Lighting
For manufacturers and suppliers of aerospace lighting and tactical avionics, RTCA DO-160 testing covers the specific stresses that airborne lighting systems must survive:
- Temperature and vibration testing (Sections 4, 5 and 8) confirms that cockpit lighting, instrument panel lamps and external lights keep working across the thermal and vibration profiles of the aircraft’s operating envelope.
- Waterproofness and humidity testing (Sections 10 and 6) verifies sealing integrity for connectors, housings and lens assemblies exposed to condensation, rain or humidity ingress.
- Power input and voltage spike testing (Sections 16 and 17) checks that LED drivers ride through the aircraft’s normal and abnormal supply conditions.
- Section 22 lightning testing confirms that lighting control circuits and LED drivers withstand the transient voltages induced by nearby lightning strikes without damage or malfunction.
- Electrostatic discharge testing (Section 25) guards against premature LED or driver circuit failure caused by static discharge during maintenance or in dry operating environments.
DO-160 compliance supports airworthiness certification and demonstrates compatibility with broader avionics integration programmes. For procurement and programme teams, it is frequently a precondition for inclusion in aircraft modernisation, UAV and defence retrofit programmes.
Several of our aircraft lights name the standard in their specifications. The cockpit dome light and the cockpit utility light list RTCA DO-160G alongside MIL-STD-810G and MIL-STD-461F.
The landing LED lights name DO-160G for the PAR 64 version and DO-160F for the High Intensity version. That difference is worth checking against the revision your specification calls up. For broader aviation lighting, explore our aviation lights range.
Need Aviation-Grade Lighting That Meets DO-160 Requirements?
Betalight Tactical supplies lighting solutions for aviation, defence and tactical applications. For specification advice on DO-160 compliant lighting for your platform, email info@betalight-tactical.com and state the revision and categories your programme names.
Frequently Asked Questions
It identifies the revision level. G is the seventh revision letter since the original DO-160 of February 1975, so DO-160G is the eighth edition of the document. It superseded DO-160F of December 2007, and its European counterpart, EUROCAE ED-14G, is identically worded.
It depends on the platform and the contract. Many military aircraft reference DO-160G for environmental qualification, while ground vehicles rely on MIL-STD-810. Where civil and military qualification meet, for example military equipment on a civil-derived aircraft, SAE AIR6811 sets out where DO-160 and the military standards are equivalent and where they differ.
Section 22 covers lightning induced transient susceptibility. It tests whether equipment can withstand the electrical transients induced in aircraft wiring by a nearby lightning strike. This is a critical test for any electronic system installed on an aircraft, as lightning-induced surges are one of the most severe electrical events an airborne system will encounter. Direct strikes on external equipment are a separate test, Section 23.
Not automatically. Under a TSO, using a different version from the one named needs an FAA deviation, and CS-ETSO requires compliance to be shown entirely with one version. Appendix 1 of AC 21-16G summarises the changes between revisions D, E, F and G, which makes it the usual starting point for deciding which sections need retesting.