AASSEP-07 hydraulic power for aircraft ground servicing

What it is

AASSEP-07 is a NATO Allied Aircraft Servicing and Standard Equipment Publication: a technical document, not itself the agreement that gives it force. Its own aim clause states the purpose plainly: "to standardize the essential characteristics of power driven hydraulic servicing equipment to facilitate cross-servicing of aircraft." Cross-servicing is the point of the whole publication - a ground crew from one NATO nation properly servicing an aircraft that belongs to another, using equipment and fluid that are compatible rather than nationally invented. Nations record their agreement to use the publication in STANAG 3510: "The agreement of nations to use this publication is recorded in STANAG 3510." AASSEP-07 is Edition A, Version 1, promulgated in November 2014 and effective on receipt; it names no earlier edition it supersedes.

What it standardises

The publication sets equipment characteristics, not procedures. Its normative chapter covers four things: the power driven hydraulic servicing equipment itself (what it must be capable of, in terms of control and output range), the supply equipment that feeds it, the hoses that connect it to an aircraft, and the connectors used at the aircraft end. It requires the fluid delivered to the aircraft to meet a stated cleanliness standard, set out in AFLP-4714 and STANAG 3748, and it requires connectors built to ISO 3174. It also requires servicing equipment to be clearly marked to show which hydraulic fluid it uses - a labelling requirement aimed squarely at stopping an allied ground crew using the wrong fluid on an unfamiliar aircraft. Two annexes record, nation by nation, the connector part numbers and fluid types currently fielded; these are a reference for recognising equipment on the ground, not a specification a new design is built against.

Who it addresses

AASSEP-07 does not name a commercial supplier directly. What it addresses is the equipment and the people who use it: ground crews performing cross-servicing, and by extension the manufacturers and national programmes that build or procure the equipment those crews rely on. A supplier meets AASSEP-07 because a national or NATO procurement programme specifies ground hydraulic servicing equipment built to it, not because the publication names suppliers as its audience.

Why a common standard matters here

Cross-servicing only works if the equipment lines up. A ground crew servicing an aircraft that belongs to a different nation needs a connector that fits, a hose that reaches, and fluid that meets the same cleanliness standard the aircraft's own equipment expects - and needs to be able to tell, at a glance, which fluid a piece of equipment is loaded with. AASSEP-07 exists to make those things predictable across NATO nations rather than something discovered, awkwardly, on the ramp. Annex A and Annex B show this is not yet a single design: connector part numbers and fluid types already vary by nation, which is exactly the gap a common standard is meant to close over time.

How a supplier meets it

A manufacturer of ground hydraulic servicing equipment builds to the operating characteristics AASSEP-07 sets out in clause 2.1.1, sources or handles fluid that meets the cleanliness standard in AFLP-4714 and STANAG 3748 (clause 2.1.2), fits hoses and connectors built to ISO 3174 (clauses 2.1.3 and 2.1.4), and marks the equipment to show which fluid it uses (clause 2.2). None of this is assessed by a certification body: AASSEP-07 names no accredited body, no government-surveillance regime and no self-declaration mechanism. A national or NATO procurement authority evaluates equipment against the manufacturer's own technical data when it buys it.

Getting the document

AASSEP-07 is unclassified and free of charge. NATO's Standardization Document Database lists the current edition; we do not host a copy or sell it.

Standards it references

• STANAG 4714Background
• STANAG 3748Background
• AFLP-4714Background