It seems that FAA requirements for any particular aircraft revolve heavily around the aircraft's type certificate. Civil aircraft are broken up into several categories based on weight or passenger count, etc. But I did not see a section on military operations.
Do military aircraft undergo type certification?
In the US, the military is not required to obtain FAA type certificates for their aircraft; the FAA is not the authority certifying a military-registered plane's airworthiness. They have the option of accepting an FAA type certificate (which they tend to do on aircraft based on civilian ones), but they run their own certification agencies for airworthiness, which are all that matters if the plane is in the military registration system. Here's an Air Force policy on the matter, here's a Lockheed powerpoint on the option to use FAA certification on commercial derivatives.
"In the US, the military is not required to obtain FAA type certificates for their aircraft"
That's not entirely true, per AFPD 62-6 Section 2.2.7, USAF must obtain and maintain FAA certification for civil aircraft acquired or modified by the Air Force if the primary mission for the aircraft is the transport of passengers. For all other civil aircraft acquired or modified, USAF shall obtain and maintain FAA certification to the maximum extent practical.
– fergbrain Dec 05 '19 at 05:00The military has their own set of certification standards for aircraft. They draw their authority from their task to provide national defense.
