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STANAG 1390
NATO nations that ratify the agreement, and the national authorities and units a nation directs to put ATP-57 into effect
STANAG 1390 is NATO's agreement committing member nations to implement ATP-57, the Allied publication covering the submarine search and rescue manual.
STANAG 1390 is the NATO standardization agreement that gives force to ATP-57, Edition D, the Allied tactical publication known as the Submarine Search and Rescue Manual. A STANAG is not itself a technical specification: it is the agreement by which NATO nations commit to implement one, and the actual procedures sit in the Allied Publication it covers. This STANAG responds to two interoperability requirements stated plainly in the document: "To establish the common operational response procedures to coordinate national and multinational submarine search and rescue responses," and "Standardized methods for search forces to locate and to communicate with a disabled submarine."
This is Edition 9, promulgated 3 April 2023. It supersedes "STANAG 1390, Edition 8, dated 16 May 2013."
The mechanism that matters here: a STANAG binds a nation, not a supplier. The letter of promulgation states: "The enclosed NATO standardization agreement (STANAG), which has been ratified by member nations, as reflected in the NATO Standardization Document Database (NSDD), is promulgated herewith." Nations "are invited to examine their ratification of the STANAG and, if they have not already done so, advise the NSO of their intention regarding its ratification and implementation." Once ratified: "This STANAG is effective upon receipt for use by the participating nations and NATO bodies," and "is implemented when a nation has issued the necessary orders or instructions to authorities and units concerned putting the standards and procedures detailed in the covered standard into effect." A supplier meets ATP-57 or this STANAG only where a contract or a tender brings either in by name, not because the STANAG exists on its own.
Allies and NATO bodies "shall provide implementation details through the electronic reporting tool," while partner nations "are invited to provide their implementation details through the electronic reporting tool" - a required report for Allies, an invitation for partners. National ratification responses follow the same route: "Allies shall provide ratification details through the electronic reporting tool." The STANAG "is to be reviewed in accordance with AAP-03," and "the result of the review is to be recorded within the NSDD."
No certification exists here, and the document names none. What it describes is a national ratification, implementation and review cycle run through NATO's own machinery, not an audit against this STANAG as such. The technical procedures in ATP-57, and how a nation's search and rescue forces actually carry them out, are what a nation's own military authorities and any customer's quality clause would assess.
ATP-57 is the standard this STANAG commits nations to implement, and where the submarine search and rescue procedures themselves live. STANAG 3552 and ATP-10 are named as related reading: STANAG 3552 covers ATP-10, the Search and Rescue Manual. STANAG 1475 and ANEP-85 are named the same way: STANAG 1475 covers ANEP-85, on material interoperability requirements for submarine escape and rescue. AAP-03 governs how this STANAG itself is reviewed. The STANAG is free to obtain from the NATO Standardization Document Database; NATO does not charge for its standardization documents and we do not host or sell copies.
STANAG 1390 and ATP-57 describe an operational response capability, not a management system: coordinating a submarine search and rescue response sits in national military command, search and rescue forces and their equipment, not in software. What that leaves to evidence is the paperwork around it: procedures that correctly reference ATP-57 and this STANAG, records of the orders and instructions a nation has issued to put it into effect, training records for the authorities and units concerned, and the implementation and review trail NATO's own reporting tool and the NSDD already require.
ComplyTrain holds that evidence as a modern, auditable system: version-controlled procedures, training records tied to named individuals and dates, and corrective actions when a gap turns up, all searchable when a higher headquarters or a customer's quality clause asks for it. It does not coordinate or conduct submarine search and rescue operations, does not decide how a nation implements the agreement, and does not replace the ratification, implementation and review nations carry out themselves through the NSDD and NATO's electronic reporting tool.
The applicable tier here, and whatever else it comes with, is set by the contract and the customer's quality clause. If you are working out what sits alongside STANAG 1390, the standards explorer covers the related NATO maritime and search-and-rescue publications, and we are glad to talk through what that means in practice.
Tell us how you need to work with STANAG 1390 and what you need from it. We will come back to you about what ComplyTrain can do.
Thank you. Your list is on its way to your inbox, and we will come back to you on what working with these standards in ComplyTrain involves, usually within one business day.
Not in general. It binds a nation once that nation ratifies it, and it reaches a supplier through a contract or a tender that names ATP-57 or this STANAG, not by existing on its own. Whether it applies to a given programme is set by the tasking or contract in front of you.
STANAG 1390 is the agreement: the letter of promulgation, the ratification record, and the reporting and review machinery. ATP-57 is the publication itself, the Allied tactical manual that sets out the submarine search and rescue procedures. The STANAG is the cover; ATP-57 is the content.
Edition 9, promulgated 3 April 2023. It supersedes STANAG 1390, Edition 8, dated 16 May 2013.
No. There is no accredited certification for STANAG 1390 or ATP-57 to hold, and ComplyTrain does not claim one. What we support is the evidence trail around procedures, orders and training records for submarine search and rescue, at an informational level.
The document says it "is to be reviewed in accordance with AAP-03," with the outcome recorded in the NATO Standardization Document Database. It sets no separate review-due date of its own.
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