Near-field noise of high-performance military aircraft and required hearing protection

The near-field acoustic environment of a high-performance military jet aircraft is very complex and intense. The overall sound pressure levels at high-engine power settings can exceed 170 dB very near the aircraft and can be in the 130–150 dB range at personnel locations. This paper describes the measured near-field noise environments from several Air Force and Navy high performance aircraft such as the F-14, F-15, F-16, F-18, and F-35. This paper will also describe a technique of calculating the hearing protection requirements in octave bands using a baseline exposure criterion and noise dose.