ANEP-88 coefficient of friction on flight decks

What it is

ANEP-88 is a NATO Allied Procedural Publication that sets the minimum coefficient of friction (CoF) a ship's flight deck coating must maintain, and specifies how to measure it. Its aim is "to establish the minimum standard requirements of Coefficient of Friction (CoF) of ships' flight decks in order to reduce the possibility of aircraft slipping" (clause 0101). It now carries the textual and procedural content that used to sit directly inside STANAG 1278: STANAG 1278 Edition 2, with that content removed, is the covering standard, and ANEP-88 is a direct replacement for the preceding edition.

There is one pass/fail figure in the document. Participating nations agree to "Maintain a minimum CoF of the flight deck coating of 0.6" and to adopt the methods of inspection and measurement the publication sets out (clause 0102, Agreement). Everything else in ANEP-88 is the detail of how that figure is obtained.

Method and occasions of inspection

Dynamic measurements are taken "with a measuring device in the vicinity of the landing spot(s) and also in random areas wherever aircraft are liable to be traversed or parked," always when the flight deck is dry (clause 0102, Details of the Agreement). Measurement is triggered three ways rather than on a fixed calendar cycle: after the flight deck coating is first applied, after it is re-applied during maintenance periods, and when doubt exists about the effectiveness of the coating's anti-slip properties. Deck coatings themselves are additionally maintained to national standards or a referenced national specification; ANEP-88 does not specify a coating product or how it is applied.

The Bedford Pad (Annex A)

The manually operated method uses a 150 x 150 mm metal block, with a section of rubber aircraft tyre (Shore hardness A 50, 5 mm thick, chamfered edges) bonded to its underside; the whole assembly weighs 2.5 kg. The operator connects a spring balance and pulls the device athwartship, then fore-and-aft, keeping the balance parallel to the deck. The CoF is the sum of the two readings divided by twice the block's weight.

The Slip-Stop FSC 2000 (Annex B)

The electronic method uses a motor-driven glider under a fixed 24 N downward force, dragged along the deck while an internal potentiometer measures the drag force needed to sustain it. The operator runs a 60 cm test, notes the maximum CoF from a printed record, repeats it for an average maximum, then repeats the whole sequence on four more areas of deck to get an average maximum CoF across five areas. The instrument itself weighs 7.5 kg, takes four interchangeable glider types (leather, rubber, plastic, uncoated), measures with a DMS sensor rated to 2% accuracy, offers wet or dry measurement modes, and prints date, time, glider type and the min/max/average values (Annex B, Table 1).

Who it binds, and how

ANEP-88 addresses "Participating nations" directly (clause 0102, Agreement); it names no company, manufacturer or supplier. The agreement to use it is recorded in STANAG 1278, so a nation's naval authority is bound once that nation has ratified STANAG 1278, and the document reaches a shipyard, a coatings supplier or a maintenance contractor only when a naval contract or that national authority invokes it, not because NATO printed the document. Edition A, Version 1 was promulgated June 2017 and is "effective upon receipt."

How it is evaluated

ANEP-88 names no certification body, notified body, test house or government surveillance role, and describes no audit or accreditation scheme. What exists is the 0.6 minimum CoF and the two measurement methods used to obtain a reading against it; the document does not say who reviews a reading or how it is retained, beyond the Slip-Stop FSC 2000's own printed record.

Getting the document

NATO publishes ANEP-88 through the NATO Standardization Document Database at no charge. ComplyTrain does not sell it or host a copy; the NSDD listing for ANEP-88 is the source. It is covered by STANAG 1278, the agreement recording nations' commitment to use it.

Standards it references

• STANAG 1194Background
• STANAG 1474Background
• APP-29Background
• STANAG 1162Background