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STANAG 4238
STANAG 4238 munition design principles, electrical and electromagnetic environments
Makers of munitions and fuzing systems that contain electro-explosive devices, and the defence buyers who specify NATO munition electromagnetic-safety requirements.
STANAG 4238 sets NATO's design principles that keep munitions containing electro-explosive devices safe in electrical and electromagnetic environments. NATO has not released it publicly; this page describes it from the Czech implementation, ČOS 999929.
- Edition
- 1
- Published
- 2002-02-25
NATO has not released this STANAG publicly. It is NATO UNCLASSIFIED, and organisations that need it obtain it through their national standardization authority.
What it is
STANAG 4238 is NATO's Standardization Agreement on munition design principles for electrical and electromagnetic environments. Edition 1, promulgated 25 February 2002, sponsored by CNAD, AC/327 LCMG, WG/6.
NATO has not released STANAG 4238 publicly. This page describes it from a public national implementation, the Czech defence standard ČOS 999929 (1st edition, amendment 1, 2022), which states that it introduces STANAG 4238 edition 1 into Czech use. A national implementation can add national requirements and reservations, so treat what follows as the Czech implementation's content, not as NATO's own text.
What the Czech implementation requires of munition design
ČOS 999929 sets out construction principles for munitions that contain electro-explosive devices (EED) and their associated circuits, so that they stay safe and usable in the electrical and electromagnetic environments they may meet during their life cycle. It binds munitions developed and introduced into service by the Czech Ministry of Defence after the standard took effect, with an exception for munitions whose development had already started and that enter service within 18 months of that date.
Its central safety principle is that a munition and its sub-systems must be designed so that no plausible single fault or event, including one caused by the electrical or electromagnetic environment, can initiate the EED or disable a safety device. A hazard analysis under ČOS 130004 sorts the possible failures into two groups. Where unintended initiation would be a safety issue, the probability of it happening from any cause must not exceed 1 × 10-6, held from the point the munition is assembled until it reaches safe separation from its user; a different figure has to be justified to the national munitions safety authority. Where the only consequence would be a loss of the munition's operational performance, the probability instead follows the ordinary reliability requirements for the munition's task.
A public NATO document that cites the agreement, AAS3P-01, states the same requirement in NATO's own words: "Munition systems containing electrical circuits which control ignition of EID/EED shall be assessed against the requirements of STANAG 4238 to ensure that no single credible event/fault or electrical/electromagnetic environment is capable of directly initiating an EID/EED, or causing a safety feature to become impaired or overridden."
How the Czech implementation approaches circuit design
The annex sets design principles for the firing circuit itself, not for using the munition. A circuit that can fire an EED needs at least two independent circuit breakers in series between the EED and its energy source, placed as close to the EED as possible, so a single component failure cannot cause firing. Shielding, grounding and filtering keep radio-frequency radiation, electrostatic discharge, lightning and the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear detonation from coupling into the firing circuit, and any test equipment connected to it must not itself be able to deliver more energy than the device's no-fire threshold. Evaluation and test methods for these conditions are set out in the related standard ČOS 051627, and the design organisation has to demonstrate, in an evaluation report, that the circuit meets the standard.
How we help
A supplier bound by STANAG 4238 through a contract holds the obtained text through its national authority. In ComplyTrain you record the requirements that apply to you as your own requirements, give each an owner, and keep the evidence that shows you meet them against each one.
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