STANAG 5644 web services messaging profile

What it is

STANAG 5644 is a NATO Standardization Agreement. It is not a technical specification. It is the agreement by which NATO nations commit to implement ADatP-5644, Edition A, the Allied Publication that sets out the Web Services Messaging Profile (WSMP) for exchanging messages between systems over web services. The service profiles and interface detail that a reader usually wants live inside ADatP-5644 itself, not inside this five-page cover. Read on its own, STANAG 5644 requires almost nothing of a supplier directly. Its obligations run to nations, and it reaches a contractor only indirectly, once a nation has implemented it and a contract or tender names ADatP-5644.

Who it binds, and how

STANAG 5644 is explicit that it binds nations rather than organisations. Its letter of promulgation describes the enclosed agreement as one "which has been ratified by member nations, as reflected in the NATO Standardization Document Database (NSDD), is promulgated herewith." Ratification and implementation are separate steps: nations that have not already reported their position 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." So "is STANAG 5644 mandatory" has no single answer: it depends on whether a given nation has ratified and implemented it, and, for a supplier, on whether a specific contract invokes ADatP-5644 as a result.

What the agreement actually commits nations to

The stated aim is "to respond to the following interoperability requirements." Those requirements: the "Web Services Messaging Profile (WSMP) standard defines a set of service profiles and provides guidance to implement interoperability interfaces for the message based exchange," and the agreement is also "to provide specification for data forwarding to include message standards and data link protocols." Under "Agreement," participating nations agree to implement ADatP-5644, Edition A. None of this is written as a duty on a supplier; it is a duty on the nation, and on whichever national body runs the messaging infrastructure in question.

A cover agreement, not the messaging specification

A reader who only has STANAG 5644 in hand does not yet have anything to build an interface against. The actual service profiles and interface requirements are in ADatP-5644. This document's own "Other related documents" field reads simply "None," a useful marker of how narrow its own scope is: it covers one publication and nothing beside it. Its cover also states plainly that "this STANAG does not supersede any document," and its "NATO Effective Date" is stated as "Not applicable."

Reporting and review

Allies report their ratification details through the electronic reporting tool (e-Reporting), and national responses are recorded in the NATO Standardization Document Database (NSDD). The profile "is considered to be implemented by NATO bodies and nations when it is established as the primary infrastructure, where appropriate, to exchange XML-based messages"; Allies and NATO bodies report implementation the same way, and partner nations are separately invited to do so. The STANAG itself "is to be reviewed in accordance with AAP-03," with the result "recorded within the NSDD" - a check on whether the agreement is still current, not an audit of any organisation. Comments are directed to the NATO Standardization Office.

What it does not cover

STANAG 5644 names no service profile, interface definition or message schema of its own - that detail sits entirely in ADatP-5644. It also names no assessment or certification scheme: the only stated check is that the STANAG itself is reviewed periodically under AAP-03, not that an organisation, a product or a system integration is certified.