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AAEP-02

AAEP-02 static grounding connections for aircraft and ground equipment

Manufacturers of aircraft and ground support equipment grounding hardware, and the maintenance and ground-handling personnel who connect it during aircraft servicing

AAEP-02 sets the electrical connector, marking and procedural requirements for grounding aircraft and ground support equipment against static electricity during servicing.

Edition
B
Published
2022-10

What it is

AAEP-02, the Allied Aircraft Electric and Electromagnetic Considerations Publication on static grounding, standardises the electrical connections used to ground aircraft and ground support equipment (GSE) against static electricity. It sets a common connector interface, a marking convention, and a procedure for when and how connections are made, so that static charges are dissipated safely before fuelling, weapons loading and other servicing work. It is covered by STANAG 3632, the NATO agreement through which member nations commit to implement it: AAEP-02 does not bind on its own, and it names STANAG 3632's own custodian as the route for proposing changes to its content (clause 1.3).

The connector interface

Every static grounding point carries a maximum electrical resistance, a distinctive marking, and a mechanical connection point (clause 2.1.1). Two connector types are recognised: a latching-type plug built to the document's own Annex B, mated to a receptacle built to ISO 46, or, where an aircraft carries no receptacle, a heavy-duty electrical clip fitted to a conductive part of the airframe (clause 2.1.3). The receptacle itself is bonded to the airframe and marked under two further NATO publications, and positioned so the fuel nozzle can be bonded to the aircraft during refuelling (clause 2.1.4). The document is direct about why the two connector types both matter: a nation has to keep both available, or suitable adapters, for visiting allied aircraft. That is the interoperability this document exists to deliver, and it is also the first thing a supervisor checking readiness for allied traffic would look for.

The grounding procedure

Chapter 2 sets the sequence and the method. The ground connection is always made before the aircraft connection, and where GSE is involved, the GSE is grounded before the aircraft's own cable is connected (clause 2.2.1). Which of three methods applies depends on the task: single-point grounding (aircraft to earth) for a parked aircraft, maintenance without GSE, or weapons loading; dual-point grounding (aircraft to earth and GSE to earth) where GSE is used but nothing highly flammable or combustible is involved; and three-point grounding (aircraft to earth, GSE to earth, and GSE to aircraft) where the GSE in use involves a flammable or combustible liquid or gas, such as oxygen, alcohol or LOX (clause 2.2.2). That choice, not the hardware, is what a ground crew supervisor actually has to get right on a given day.

What it leaves to other publications

AAEP-02 is explicit about its own boundary: protection against power faults in electrical equipment is not covered here, and sits in STANAG 3682 instead (clause 1.2). Aircraft servicing marking more broadly is STANAG 3109's subject, ground electrical power supplies are STANAG 3457's, and pressure refuelling connections are STANAG 3105's; AAEP-02 names all three as related reading rather than folding them in. Annex A is worth knowing about for a different reason: it shows that while the connector interface is common, how a nation marks its own grounding points is not; one nation marks a concrete block, another does not mark its points at all. Annex B carries the exact plug and receptacle dimensions a manufacturer would build to, which is the level of detail this page does not reproduce.

How we help

AAEP-02 is an operational and technical standard: the work it describes happens in connector design, in the hangar and on the flight line, not in software. There is no certification against it. Its own document names no assessment scheme, and conformity here is a matter of national implementation of the connector interface and the grounding procedure, not a certificate anyone issues.

What ComplyTrain supports is the evidence trail around that work: the procedure documents that set out the three grounding methods and when each applies, the training records that show ground crew were trained to select the right one, and the records of which connector hardware was fitted and to which interface. It does not fit a connector, ground an aircraft, or inspect a fuel nozzle bond; that work happens on the ramp, not in a compliance platform.

Where AAEP-02 sits in a wider defence quality picture, alongside the other Allied Publications it names, is something the standards explorer shows at a glance. The tier that actually applies, and which of these documents a specific contract requires, is set by the contract and the customer's quality clause rather than by this page. If that is what you are working through, we are glad to talk it over.

Standards it references

Questions

Is AAEP-02 mandatory?

Not by itself. AAEP-02 is covered by STANAG 3632, the NATO agreement through which member nations commit to implement it domestically. It reaches a supplier or a ground organisation once a national instruction, a tender or a contract invokes it, not simply because it has been published.

Is there a certification for AAEP-02?

No. The document names no certification, audit or inspection scheme of its own. Conformity is a matter of national implementation: equipment built and marked to the specification, and ground crew trained to select the correct grounding method for the task.

What is the difference between AAEP-02 and STANAG 3632?

STANAG 3632 is the agreement nations ratify; AAEP-02 is the technical publication it covers, and where the requirements themselves are written. AAEP-02's own revision clause routes changes back through STANAG 3632's custodian.

Does AAEP-02 cover protection against electrical power faults?

No. AAEP-02 says plainly that this is not covered in this AP, and points instead to STANAG 3682 for grounding and bonding operations of that kind.

What connector does AAEP-02 require?

A latching-type plug built to the document's own Annex B, mating with a receptacle built to ISO 46, or a heavy-duty electrical clip where an aircraft has no grounding receptacle. Nations are required to keep both types, or suitable adapters, available for visiting allied aircraft.