STANREC 4744
STANREC 4744 guidance on risk assessment of non-lethal kinetic energy projectiles
National defence authorities and NATO bodies deciding whether to adopt AEP-94, AEP-98, AEP-99 and AEP-103 for risk assessment of non-lethal kinetic energy projectiles, and the suppliers whose contracts end up naming them
STANREC 4744 is a NATO recommendation, not a binding agreement, naming AEP-94, AEP-98, AEP-99 and AEP-103 for assessing the risk of non-lethal kinetic energy projectiles.
- Edition
- 5
- Published
- 2021-07-15
What it is
A recommendation, not an obligation
STANREC 4744 is a NATO Standardization Recommendation on risk assessment of non-lethal kinetic energy projectiles. The distinction that matters most is in its name: unlike a STANAG, a STANREC does not commit a nation to ratify anything. NATO's own text is explicit that "nations are invited to use the Allied standard(s) covered by the STANREC and to provide feedback to the NSO on the use of the covered Allied standard(s)" - an invitation, not a ratification obligation. Nothing in this document creates a duty for a supplier to sign up to directly.
What it recommends
The document's aim is to list recommended practices for "test methodology to assess the risk of using kinetic-energy NLC that are used to degrade/stop/disable individuals across the full spectrum of operational requirements, mission areas, and operating environments." Its recommendation is not one document but four, all at Edition B: AEP-94, AEP-98, AEP-99 and AEP-103. STANREC 4744 does not expand on what any of the four require; the point of this cover document is to name them, not to reproduce their content. It names no other related documents.
An edition update, not a consolidation
This edition supersedes only its own prior edition: "This STANREC supersedes the following document: STANREC 4744, Edition 4, dated 24 January 2018." That sets it apart from STANRECs that fold several older STANAGs into one - this is a straight refresh of the same recommendation, promulgated 15 July 2021.
Where the actual requirements live
STANREC 4744 has no clauses of its own to audit against. It is supervised under NATO's Army Armaments Group (NAAG) and the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Group (JNLWCG). The document is reviewed periodically in accordance with AAP-03, with the result recorded in the NATO Standardization Document Database; that review is the only ongoing mechanism the document names, and it checks the document's own currency, not a projectile or an organisation. The risk-assessment methodology and any thresholds it sets sit inside AEP-94, AEP-98, AEP-99 and AEP-103, not here.
How we help
STANREC 4744 itself gives an organisation nothing to implement in software: it recommends which four documents to assess non-lethal kinetic energy projectiles against, and the testable content sits inside AEP-94, AEP-98, AEP-99 and AEP-103, not here.
What is left is the ordinary discipline of evidencing a choice: recording which of the named AEPs a programme assesses against, holding that decision as a controlled document with its rationale, and keeping the test and inspection records that show a supplier followed the risk-assessment protocol a contract specified. ComplyTrain gives a place to hold that documentation, track who approved it, and keep it linked to the programme and contract it applies to.
ComplyTrain does not conduct or witness the physical risk-assessment testing of non-lethal kinetic energy projectiles itself - that work happens in accredited test facilities, against whatever AEP-94, AEP-98, AEP-99 or AEP-103 specifies. Which of the four a given contract requires is set by the contract and the customer's quality clause, not by this page. Our standards explorer shows what sits alongside STANREC 4744 - if you're weighing up what a tender is actually asking for, we're glad to talk it through.
Questions
Is STANREC 4744 mandatory?
No. A STANREC is a recommendation: NATO nations are invited to use the standards it names, without the ratification obligation a STANAG carries. Whether AEP-94, AEP-98, AEP-99 or AEP-103 applies to a specific programme is a question for that programme's contract.
What is the difference between a STANREC and a STANAG?
A STANAG is an agreement nations ratify and commit to implement. A STANREC recommends a standard without that obligation - nations are invited to use it and to report their experience, but nothing requires them to.
What does STANREC 4744 recommend?
Four documents, all at Edition B: AEP-94, AEP-98, AEP-99 and AEP-103, covering the test methodology for assessing the risk of non-lethal kinetic energy projectiles. STANREC 4744 does not itself set out that methodology.
What happened to the previous edition of STANREC 4744?
This edition, promulgated 15 July 2021, supersedes STANREC 4744 Edition 4, dated 24 January 2018. It is a refresh of the same recommendation rather than a consolidation of separate documents.