Standardization in NATO
NATO standardization is defined as the creation and implementation of concepts, doctrines, procedures and models to achieve and maintain compatibility, compatibility, interchangeability or conformity, which are necessary to achieve the required level of interoperability or to optimize the use of resources, in the areas of operational, armament-technical (material) and administrative. NATO's standardization policy is approved by the North Atlantic Council; its executive body is the Committee for Standardization (CS).
Objectives of standardization in NATO
Alliance principles include that NATO states and bodies increase their interoperability through standardization to strengthen the Alliance's defence capabilities.
NATO countries and bodies develop, approve and jointly implement NATO standardization agreements (STANAG) and allied standards to achieve and maintain the required level of interoperability and to optimize the use of resources.
In addition, NATO states and bodies can develop or propose standards exclusively related to a given area of armament-technical (material) standardization, which, although not directly related to the improvement of interoperability, are considered useful. Such armament-technical (material) standards (STANREC) are recommended by these states for use within the Alliance.
Principles of standardization in NATO
1. General alliance goals
Standardization itself is not the final goal of the process. The need for standardization stems from the general political goals of the North Atlantic Treaty and, in particular, from the Strategic Concept of the Alliance and the Ministerial Directive for Defence Planning in NATO.
2. Harmonization of NATO's standardization and defence planning
Coordination between individual areas of NATO defence planning is an essential element of harmonization and achieving interoperability. For Member States involved in the Capability-Building Planning system, the standardization process takes place through the Capability-Building Objectives and the Regular Defence Review.
3. Unity of effort
Unity of effort is enhanced by alignment and coordination of standardization between Member States, Strategic Commands and NATO Major Committees under the direction of the NATO Office for Standardization (NSO).
4. Use of civil standards
The Alliance uses appropriate civilian standards to the maximum extent, unless there are serious reasons not to use them. NATO creates its standards only where usable civilian standards are not available.
5. Achieving standardization level
States must achieve the standardization levels as specified in the given standardization requirement. There are the following levels of standardization:
- Compatibility - suitability of products, procedures or services for joint use under specified conditions to meet important requirements without mutual influence.
- Interchangeability - the ability of one product, procedure or service to be used instead of another one to meet the given requirements.
- Consistency - the state achieved when the same doctrine, procedures, or equipment is used.
6. Feedback
Retrospective evaluation by sending comments related to the fulfilment of standardization requirements and the implementation of STANAG is an important part of the standardization process.
7. Obligation of the state
Standardization within NATO is basically voluntary. States are only encouraged to apply applicable standards to the maximum extent possible. In some cases, states can agree on the mandatory introduction of special standards. Full alignment with capacity-building objectives is a key aspect for the commitment of States involved in capacity-building planning to improve standardization. Those STANAGs that relate to the interoperable requirements of the capability building objectives are prioritized through the relevant committees, while NATO nations try to implement them according to each capability's timeline and their national priorities.
8. Implementation in NATO
Individual applicable NATO standardization documents that are declared valid are established by NATO headquarters, NATO agencies and other bodies.
9. Terminology
NATO documents must only use terminology that is agreed upon for NATO.
NATO standardization documents
1. NATO standardization agreement
NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG) is a NATO standardization document that specifies the agreement of member states to introduce a standard, in whole or in part, with or without reservations, in order to fulfill the interoperability requirement.
2. NATO standardization recommendations
NATO Standardization Recommendation (STANREC) is a NATO standardization document used exclusively in the arms-technical (materiel) area of standardization that lists one or more NATO or non-NATO standards related to a certain alliance activity that is not related to interoperability.
STANREC is a non-binding acceptance document, used to recommend good practices in multinational cooperation. It is used on a voluntary basis and requires no commitment from allies to implement the allied standards it adopts.
3. Allied Publication Allied Publication (AP) is the designation given to both standards and standard-related documents that are published in NATO. Allied publications are referred to by abbreviated titles. The abbreviated title determines the type of publication. Examples: Allied Joint Publications (AJP), Allied Engineering Publications (AEP), Allied Educational and Training Publications (ATrainP), etc.
Areas of standardization in NATO
The Alliance creates standardization documents in the following areas:
a) Operational
NATO standardization documents that establish conceptual, organizational or methodological requirements to enable armaments and techniques, facilities and organizational units or armed forces to fulfil their functions and tasks.
b) Weapons-technical (material)
NATO standardization documents that establish common technical requirements for material (armament and equipment) during its life cycle. The term materiel (equipment and equipment) can include entire systems, including systems for consultation, command and control (C3), as well as weapon systems and subsystems, communication devices, assembly parts, individual elements of systems, spare parts and consumables, including ammunition, fuel and supplies
c) Administrative
NATO standardization documents that facilitate the Alliance's administrative activities in various areas, including but not limited to terminology, finance, human resources and military ranks.
Civil standards
1. Appropriate civilian standards are used within NATO as a matter of preference and, if possible, without further modification. If selected civilian standards are adopted as NATO standards, then the following order of priorities applies:
a) international standards created by ISO, IEC, ITU, IETF4 or other publicly available standards, adopted for use within NATO;
b) regional (international) standards, such as European standards (EC) and European telecommunications standards (ETS);
c) national standards;
d) commercial publicly available standards (CAUTION: Not to be confused with publicly available conditions (PAS) ISO or ISO/IEC);
e) civil standards and commercial state-supplied equipment and products (COTS and GOTS); they are used only on the condition that the relevant NATO authority has verified and recommended their use in NATO on the basis of reliability, cost-effectiveness, from security aspects and also from the point of view of the availability of these products.
2. If any civil standards are accepted for standardization in NATO, the name of the issuing civil organization, number, title and date of issue of the relevant civil standard must be indicated in the text of the acceptance document (STANAG, STANREC). Where the civilian standard is not very suitable and needs to be supplemented, then a NATO standardization document must be created with a replaced or supplemented text. If any text from a civil standard is reproduced, then the TA/DTA must ensure that there is no copyright infringement, or that a standard-setting organization (SDO) has issued permission for its use.
