STANAG 4758 safety and suitability for service assessment testing for munitions

What it is

What STANAG 4758 covers

STANAG 4758 is the NATO standardization agreement that gives force to AAS3P-11, Edition A, the Allied publication covering safety and suitability for service (S3) assessment testing for surface and underwater launched munitions. A STANAG is not itself a technical specification: it is the agreement by which NATO nations commit to implement one, and the test methods and requirements themselves sit in the Allied Publication it covers. The agreement's own stated aim is to enable nations "to conduct planning and implementation of S3 assessment testing of surface and underwater launched munitions" so that "appropriate evidence" can be collected "covering the entire life cycle," with the objective of providing data to demonstrate that the munition will be "safe for use." Read plainly, that means the STANAG covers how nations plan and run this safety test program, not the test methods, thresholds or acceptance criteria AAS3P-11 itself sets out.

This is Edition 1, promulgated 24 February 2017. It does not supersede any earlier document.

Who ratifies it, and how it takes effect

The mechanism that matters here: a STANAG binds a nation, not a supplier. 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 implementation," and the national decision is recorded in the NATO Standardization Document Database (NSDD). The STANAG "is effective upon receipt and ready to be used by the implementing nations and NATO bodies," and partner nations "are invited to adopt" it, a lighter step than ratification. Ratification and implementation are separate, and a supplier or test house meets this agreement only where a contract or a tasking for a specific munitions programme brings AAS3P-11 in, not because the STANAG exists.

What implementation actually means

Ratifying nations "agree to follow the guidance given in AAS3P-11 Edition A, when defining the safety and suitability for service assessment testing for surface and underwater launched munitions." Implementation carries a second, distinct commitment: ratifying nations "also agree to provide on demand the relevant safety and reliability information indicated in AAS3P-11 Edition A when transferring munitions to other NATO nations." That obligation runs for as long as the munition exists and changes hands, not only at the point a programme first adopts AAS3P-11. The document also states it is "relevant to programme managers and service personnel who require information on surveillance and need basic guidance on planning a surveillance programme."

How it's reviewed

This STANAG "is to be reviewed at least once every three years", with the result recorded in the NSDD. Nations and NATO bodies may propose changes at any time through a standardization proposal to the tasking authority, to be processed at the next review. That is a standardization review, run by NATO's own machinery, not a certification: the document names no accredited body, no notified body and no audit against it as such.

Standards it references

• STANAG 4629Background