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STANAG 6503

STANAG 6503 defence maritime geospatial exchange model (DMGEM)

Defence and NATO-affiliated organisations working to a contract or tender that invokes STANAG 6503 or the AGeoP-14 publication it covers

STANAG 6503 is NATO's agreement committing member nations to implement AGeoP-14, Edition A, which structures the geospatial data specifications (DMGEM) NATO forces exchange in the maritime domain.

Edition
1
Published
2017-05-12

What it is

STANAG 6503 is the NATO Standardization Agreement by which participating nations commit to implement AGeoP-14, Edition A, the Allied Publication that "defines the implementation of DMGEM by specifying the structure of AML+ Product Specifications." This is Edition 1, promulgated 12 May 2017, and the cover states plainly that "this STANAG does not supersede any document." The STANAG itself carries no technical content: participating nations "agree to implement the following standard," and the standard named is AGeoP-14 - anyone working directly with DMGEM's data products needs that publication, not this cover agreement.

What DMGEM covers, and what it does not adopt

DMGEM, the Defence Maritime Geospatial Exchange Model, "addresses the interoperability requirements specific to geospatial information in the maritime environment." It complements the NATO Geospatial Information Framework (NGIF), reflects NATO Geospatial Policy MC 0296, and "mitigates geospatial deficiencies identified in the NATO Geospatial Deficiencies Matrix (NGDM)." Once implemented, AGeoP-14 "provides the framework for AML+ Product Specifications which define data products for use across WECDIS and C2 environments," and STANAG 7170 already "meets this requirement for existing Additional Military Layers (AML) specifications."

The cover is explicit about where DMGEM sits next to civil geospatial standards: "the civilian International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) community is moving towards a more contemporary and flexible environment using the S-100 standard," while "in parallel NATO is developing the NGIF within which AML+ products will also exist." STANAG 6503 does not adopt S-100 as a NATO standard. What it commits to is a "defined mapping (crosswalk) between S-100 and NGIF data models," and to using "existing registers managed by the IHO and DGIWG" that already sit alongside the civil hydrographic community's own infrastructure.

Who ratifies it, and how it binds

STANAG 6503 binds nations, not suppliers. Nations are "invited to examine their ratification of the STANAG" and to advise the NSO of their intention regarding its implementation, and "the national responses are recorded in the NATO Standardization Document Database (NSDD)." It "is effective upon receipt" for the nations and NATO bodies that have ratified it, and partner nations are separately "invited to adopt this STANAG." Implementation is a further step, complete when "all parties must be capable of using AML+ to provide geospatial products and services in support of NATO operations in the maritime domain." Nations report their effective implementation "using the form in Annex H to AAP-03(J)"; partner nations report adoption "using the form in Annex G to AAP-03(J)." The STANAG "is to be reviewed at least once every three years."

How it is evaluated

STANAG 6503 describes no certification scheme and no third-party audit. What it describes is nations reporting their ratification and implementation status to NATO, recorded in the NSDD. Where a contractor's geospatial data work does get checked in practice, the assessor and the evidence expected are set by the contract's own quality clause and by AGeoP-14 itself, not by this STANAG.

Standards it references

STANAG 6503 covers AGeoP-14, the Allied Publication that carries DMGEM's actual product specifications. Its "Other Related Documents" list five further STANAG/Allied Publication pairs: STANAG 7170, which covers AGeoP-19 (Additional Military Layers digital geospatial data products); STANAG 1116, which covers AMP-11 (naval mine warfare information and data transfer); STANAG 2211, which covers AGeoP-21 (geodetic datums, projections, grids and grid references); STANAG 2251, which covers AGeoP-17 (scope and presentation of military geographic information and documentation); and STANAG 2592, which covers AGeoP-11 (the NATO Geospatial Information Framework). STANAG 2586, which covers AGeoP-8 (the NATO Geospatial Metadata Profile), is also named. Nations report their ratification, implementation and adoption of STANAG 6503 under AAP-03.

How we help

STANAG 6503 and the AGeoP-14 framework it brings into force are implemented in national geospatial production and systems work, not in a compliance platform: building AML+ Product Specifications and enacting them across WECDIS and command-and-control systems is geospatial and hydrographic engineering work, carried out by specialists against AGeoP-14's own text.

What ComplyTrain does for that kind of work in general is give an organisation one auditable place to hold the procedures, training records and evidence trail - non-conformances, corrective actions, document control - that a customer's quality representative or a government surveillance visit will ask to see once a contract invokes AGeoP-14 or DMGEM.

ComplyTrain does not build, enact or operate a geospatial data exchange model, and it cannot determine whether a nation's or a contractor's systems meet AGeoP-14's technical characteristics or the S-100/NGIF crosswalk it describes. That work is set by the contract and the customer's quality clause. Browse the explorer to see what sits alongside STANAG 6503 and AGeoP-14, and talk to us about the evidence trail once you know which ones are in your contract.

Standards it references

Questions

Is STANAG 6503 mandatory?

Only for nations that have ratified it, and it reaches a contractor only where a contract or tender invokes AGeoP-14 or DMGEM by name. The STANAG binds nations, not suppliers, and sets no date reaching a supplier directly.

What is the difference between STANAG 6503 and AGeoP-14?

STANAG 6503 is the NATO ratification agreement; AGeoP-14, Edition A is the publication that actually specifies the structure of AML+ Product Specifications. Ratifying STANAG 6503 is how a nation commits to implement AGeoP-14.

Does STANAG 6503 adopt the IHO S-100 standard?

No. The cover notes that the civilian International Hydrographic Organization community is moving toward S-100, and commits DMGEM to a defined crosswalk mapping between S-100 and NGIF data models. It does not itself make S-100 a NATO standard.

Can a company be certified to STANAG 6503?

No. STANAG 6503 describes nations ratifying and reporting implementation to NATO, recorded in the NATO Standardization Document Database. It describes no certification or audit scheme for a supplier or a product.

Who is the custodian of STANAG 6503?

The cover names the United Kingdom, through the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, as the custodian, and the Military Committee Joint Standardization Board's Joint Geospatial Standards working group as the tasking authority supervising the STANAG.