STANAG 3117
STANAG 3117 aircraft marshalling signals agreement
Defence organisations whose personnel marshal aircraft on NATO or allied airfields under a directive or contract that invokes STANAG 3117 or the AFSP-02 publication it covers
STANAG 3117 is NATO's ratification agreement committing member nations to implement AFSP-02, Edition B, the Allied publication that sets out aircraft marshalling signals.
- Edition
- 10
- Published
- 2025-06-03
What it is
STANAG 3117 is the NATO Standardization Agreement covering aircraft marshalling signals used across NATO nations. This is Edition 10, promulgated 3 June 2025, superseding Edition 9 of 4 September 2014.
A STANAG is not the specification
A STANAG is the agreement by which NATO nations commit to implement a standard, not the technical specification itself. STANAG 3117's own text is short and administrative: an aim, an interoperability requirement, and the ratification and reporting machinery. The marshalling signals named in its title are specified in a separate publication, AFSP-02, Edition B, which the STANAG names as the standard participating nations "agree to implement". Anyone training personnel against those signals, or referencing them directly, needs AFSP-02's own text, not this cover agreement.
What it commits nations to
The stated aim is interoperability: "to standardize within NATO nations the aircraft marshalling signals that apply to the operation of all aircraft", so that aircraft of one nation "can safely operate on any nations bases or ships". This edition was revised specifically "to include additional marshalling signals for tilt rotor aircraft", extending AFSP-02's scope without this STANAG detailing what those signals are.
Who it binds, and how
STANAG 3117 binds nations, not suppliers or ground crews directly. It is effective "upon receipt for use by the participating nations and NATO bodies", and it becomes binding on a given nation through ratification, which NATO records in the NATO Standardization Documents Database (NSDD). Implementation is a separate, further step: the STANAG and AFSP-02 are "considered implemented when the national authorities have updated and distributed all applicable national guidance and training". Allied nations and NATO bodies are then obliged to report implementation details through NATO's electronic reporting tool; partner nations are only invited to do the same. This edition sets no NATO-wide effective date; its own "NATO Effective Date (NED)" field reads "Not applicable".
How it's evaluated
STANAG 3117 describes no certification scheme and no audit. What it describes is nations reporting their ratification and implementation status to NATO for the record; nobody is "STANAG 3117 certified", and the document never uses that language. Where an organisation's marshalling training or ground-handling procedures do get checked in practice, the assessor and the evidence required are set by the applicable national authority, service directive, or customer audit regime, not by this STANAG.
Standards it references
STANAG 3117 covers AFSP-02, the Allied Flight Signals Publication that carries the actual marshalling signals. Reviews of STANAG 3117 itself run under AAP-03. The document's own "Other Related Documents" entry names nothing further.
How we help
Aircraft marshalling is followed in day-to-day ground operations, not in a compliance platform: ground crews use the signals AFSP-02 specifies, a training programme teaches and assesses them, and a quality or safety department retains the records that prove personnel were trained on the current edition, including any scope addition such as the tilt rotor signals this edition introduced.
What ComplyTrain does for that kind of work generally is give a defence organisation one auditable place to hold the training procedures, the competency and refresher-training records for the people who marshal aircraft, and the evidence trail - non-conformances, corrective actions, document control - that a national authority or a customer's quality representative will ask to see when an edition changes.
ComplyTrain does not marshal aircraft, teach the signals, or determine which edition of AFSP-02 a given airfield or unit has adopted. That is ground-operations and national-authority work, carried out against the publication itself and whatever service directive or contract applies.
Which STANAGs and Allied Publications actually apply to a given airfield or contract is set by the customer's quality clause and national guidance, not by us. Browse the explorer to see what sits alongside STANAG 3117 and AFSP-02, and talk to us about the evidence trail once you know which ones are in your contract.
Standards it references
- AAP-03Background
Questions
Is STANAG 3117 mandatory?
Only where a nation has ratified and implemented it, and it reaches ground crews or contractors only where a national directive or contract invokes it. The STANAG's own "NATO Effective Date (NED)" field reads "Not applicable", so there is no blanket start date to point to.
What is the difference between STANAG 3117 and AFSP-02?
STANAG 3117 is the NATO ratification agreement; AFSP-02, Edition B is the publication that actually specifies the aircraft marshalling signals. Ratifying STANAG 3117 is how a nation commits to implement AFSP-02.
Can a company be certified to STANAG 3117?
No. STANAG 3117 describes nations ratifying and reporting implementation to NATO, recorded in the NATO Standardization Documents Database. It describes no certification or audit scheme for a supplier, a ground crew, or a training programme.
What changed in the current edition of STANAG 3117?
This edition, Edition 10, promulgated 3 June 2025, supersedes "STANAG 3117, Edition 9, dated 4 September 2014" and was revised "to include additional marshalling signals for tilt rotor aircraft", though the signals themselves are set out in AFSP-02, not in this STANAG.