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STANAG 4361
STANAG 4361 obscurant effectiveness testing
Manufacturers of smoke and obscurant materials, and the defence test laboratories and procurement staff who evaluate how well they screen a target.
STANAG 4361 sets standardized laboratory and field procedures for evaluating how effectively an obscurant material screens a target. NATO has not released it publicly; this page describes it from the Czech defence standard that implements it.
- Edition
- 1
- Published
- 2000-04-20
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 4361 is the NATO Standardization Agreement on standardized procedures for evaluating the effectiveness of obscurants. Edition 1, promulgated on 20 April 2000, was sponsored by CNAD, AC/225 NAAG, MILENG, MatP. NATO has not released STANAG 4361 publicly. This page describes it from a public national implementation, the Czech defence standard ČOS 051654 (2nd edition, amendment 2, 2023), which states that it introduces STANAG 4361 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 covers
ČOS 051654 defines standardized procedures for evaluating how effectively an obscurant material screens a target, in two phases: laboratory tests and field tests. In the laboratory, a small sample (100 g) is evaluated in a test chamber under controlled, repeatable conditions, using the Beer-Lambert law to relate spectral transmittance, mass concentration and optical path length to a masking coefficient. The standard also sets out how to measure particle size distribution, particle shape and settling velocity, and lists four dispersal techniques the chamber must accommodate: pneumatic, evaporation-condensation, pyrotechnic and vibrational. Results are recorded as transmittance, attenuation, concentration, particle-size distribution, settling velocity, the masking coefficient and the chamber's climatic conditions, each plotted against time.
How field effectiveness is measured
Field tests aim to confirm, with full-size screens and targets where possible, the properties selected in the laboratory, across the electro-optical, laser and radar wavebands. The standard sets out transmittance measurement against wavelength and local weather; optoelectronic measurement using CCD, InSb and HgCdTe detectors spanning visible to infrared, assessing a cloud's size, duration and continuity; and radar measurement of a screen's attenuation and backscatter, using a monostatic radar and a calibrated reflector, taken at horizontal, vertical and 45-degree polarization. A minimum set of meteorological readings, including temperature, humidity, visibility, wind and cloud cover, must be recorded and classified against 21 defined weather categories to describe the conditions each test ran in.
Some content in ČOS 051654 is specific to the Czech implementation: it references the Czech standard ČOS 108014 for toxicity testing of smokes and pyrotechnic compositions, and sets Czech safety and hygiene procedures for the test site. Those are national additions, not necessarily NATO's own text.
How we help
A supplier bound by STANAG 4361 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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