AATMP-08

AATMP-08 marking and lighting of airfield obstructions

NATO Led Service Providers marking and lighting obstructions at existing, planned, or deployed NATO airfields

AATMP-08 sets NATO's method for marking and lighting airfield obstructions, agreed by nations under STANAG 3346 and applied by NATO airfield operators alongside civil ICAO Annex 14 practice.

Edition: B
Published: 2026-08

What it is

What AATMP-08 governs

AATMP-08 is the NATO Allied Air Traffic Management Publication that carries the technical method behind STANAG 3346, the agreement by which participating nations commit to it. Its purpose is to standardise how obstacles on NATO airfields are marked and lit, giving NATO forces a consistent, maximum degree of safety while keeping commonality with civil practice, specifically the colours and method in ICAO Annex 14, Volume 1 (Eighth Edition, July 2018). That commonality is deliberately not absolute: the document says it "is to be maintained without detracting from the requirement for unique military operations", which is why AATMP-08 also covers things civil aerodromes do not, such as arrester-barrier warning lights.

What counts as an obstacle

AATMP-08 defines an airfield obstacle as "all fixed (whether temporary or permanent) and mobile objects or parts thereof, that are located on an area intended for the surface movement of aircraft or that extend above the clearance planes established by application of the current criteria of the host nation." In practice, whether something counts turns on the host nation's own clearance-plane criteria, not on a fixed height set by AATMP-08 itself. The provisions do not apply to airfields where tone-down measures have already been incorporated.

Arrester barriers and obstacle lights

Elevated arrester barriers count as ordinary obstacles. Net-type barriers additionally need warning lights on the runway installation, projecting into the approach sector, so a pilot can tell that a downwind barrier has been accidentally left up, or that they are lined up to land in the wrong direction. These lights run continuously until the barrier is lowered, on frangible posts 0.9m (3ft) high next to the brake mechanism. AATMP-08 recommends physical checks of the barrier and its warning-light system twice daily and after every change of runway direction. Obstacle-light power supply and control circuitry has to follow the current edition of STANAG 3316, Airfield Lighting; AATMP-08 cross-refers to it rather than restating it.

The safety annex: what to check before you implement

Annex A is written for NATO Led Service Providers implementing the standard at existing or planned airfields, and during deployed operations. Before implementation it expects a check against the NATO Standardization Agency's own records: is the STANAG/AATMP suitable for this type of operation (STANAG 7210 / AEP-68 has the guidance), is the edition and any amendments current, have related documents been obtained and reviewed, what is the ratification status and are there national reservations, and do existing facilities already comply. Alongside that, and regardless of it, AATMP-08 says full safety surveys under STANAG 4720's Air Traffic Management Safety Management System "shall still be carried out".

Hazards a custodian has already flagged

The annex also lists specific hazards identified by the STANAG's custodian and national subject-matter experts, each with a suggested mitigation: LED obstruction lights that are not visible through night-vision goggles (test NVG visibility before deploying LEDs, or use incandescent or NVG-compliant lamps); LEDs that may not generate enough heat to clear snow and ice (confirm cold-weather performance, or use incandescent lamps or heaters); obstruction lights on tall structures that are hard to reach for maintenance (design in access from the start, such as lift trucks, secure pathways, or drop mechanisms); and injury or death to maintenance personnel from electrocution or falls (use qualified personnel, with safety procedures such as fall-arrest systems where appropriate). AATMP-08 is explicit that this list is "by no means exhaustive or fully applicable to all environments or situations".

What it does not cover: a retention period for any of these review or check records, or an approval and sign-off process beyond the checklist itself. Neither is specified.

How we help

AATMP-08 is an operational and technical standard, not a management system, so the actual work of marking obstacles, wiring lights to the right circuitry, running the recommended twice-daily checks, and testing LED performance in the field happens on the airfield, not in software. What helps is having the procedures this document implies written down and controlled: the pre-implementation checklist (suitability, currency, related documents, ratification status, existing-facility compliance), the physical-check schedule for barrier warning lights, the NVG and cold-weather test records for obstruction lights, and the maintenance-access and fall-arrest procedures for the people doing the work. ComplyTrain gives you a place to hold those procedures, version them, train people against them, and keep the evidence trail that a STANAG 4720 safety survey or an internal reviewer would ask for.

ComplyTrain does not mark or light an airfield, test a light against NVG equipment, or run a safety survey. That work is done on the ground, by people qualified to do it.

Which parts of AATMP-08 and its related STANAGs actually apply to a given airfield or contract is set by the tender and the customer's quality clause, not by this page. See the standards explorer for what sits alongside AATMP-08, and talk to us about the evidence trail behind it.

Standards it references

STANAG 3316Binds
STANAG 4720Background

Questions

Is AATMP-08 mandatory?

Not by itself. Nations commit to it by ratifying STANAG 3346, and a nation can ratify with reservations. Whether it applies to a given supplier or airfield project comes down to what the relevant national authority, NATO tasking, or contract requires, not the existence of the document.

What is the difference between AATMP-08 and STANAG 3346?

STANAG 3346 is the agreement: the record of nations agreeing to use a common marking and lighting method. AATMP-08 is the Allied Publication that actually contains that method, the obstacle definition, the arrester-barrier lighting requirements, and the safety annex.

Can ComplyTrain get us AATMP-08 certified?

No such certification exists. AATMP-08 names no certification body, notified body, or accredited scheme; the only checks it describes are the NATO Led Service Provider's own pre-implementation review and the safety surveys carried out separately under STANAG 4720.

Does AATMP-08 apply to civilian airports?

The document is written for NATO airfields and NATO Armed Forces. It deliberately builds on civil ICAO Annex 14 colours and method rather than replacing them, but its arrester-barrier and other military-specific provisions are for NATO's own use.

What changed between Version 1 and Version 2 of Edition B?

AATMP-08 states that Edition B Version 2 supersedes Edition B Version 1, which is to be destroyed under local procedure, but the document itself does not list what changed between the two versions.