STANREC 4815
STANREC 4815 NATO modelling and simulation standards profile
National defence authorities and NATO bodies choosing which modelling and simulation standards to adopt, and the suppliers whose M&S programmes end up building to them
STANREC 4815 is a NATO recommendation, not a binding agreement, naming AMSP-01 as the standard nations are invited to adopt for interoperability across NATO's modelling and simulation domain.
- Edition
- 2
- Published
- 2021-09-06
What it is
A recommendation, not an obligation
STANREC 4815 is a NATO Standardization Recommendation covering NATO's modelling and simulation (M&S) domain. 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 stated aim is "selection and use of standards to promote interoperability, best practice and reuse" in the M&S domain. It recommends one standard: AMSP-01, Edition E. Alongside it, the document names two related references without saying either binds anything here: STANAG 5524, which covers the NATO Interoperability Standards and Profiles (NISP), and ADatP-34.
A second edition of the same recommendation
This edition "supersedes the following document: STANREC 4815, Edition 1, dated 23 February 2018". It was promulgated on 6 September 2021. The recommendation itself, in other words, has been current NATO practice in one form or another for several years; this is a refresh of the standard it points at, not a first issue.
Where the actual requirements live
STANREC 4815 has no clauses of its own to audit against. Its content is a promulgation letter and a short recommendation, five pages long, and the testable requirements, if any, sit inside AMSP-01, the standard it names, not in this document. The document is reviewed periodically in line with AAP-03, with the result recorded in the NATO Standardization Document Database; that review checks the recommendation's own currency, not an organisation or a simulation product.
How we help
STANREC 4815 itself gives an organisation nothing to implement in software: it recommends a standard to build modelling and simulation work to, and the testable content sits inside AMSP-01, not here.
What is left is the ordinary discipline of evidencing a choice: recording that a modelling and simulation programme has adopted the recommended standard, holding that decision and its rationale as a controlled document, training the people who build or run simulation environments against it, and keeping the record linked to the programme or contract that specified it. ComplyTrain gives a place to hold that documentation, track who approved it, and keep it current as a programme's M&S approach evolves.
ComplyTrain does not build, validate or run the modelling and simulation environments, federations or exercises themselves - that work is done in the M&S tooling and processes built to AMSP-01. Which standard a given programme must use is set by the contract and the customer's requirement, not by this page. Our standards explorer shows what sits alongside STANREC 4815 - if you're weighing up what a tender or a programme is actually asking for, we're glad to talk it through.
Standards it references
- STANAG 5524Background
Questions
Is STANREC 4815 mandatory?
No. A STANREC is a recommendation: NATO nations are invited to use the standard it names, without the ratification obligation a STANAG carries. Whether AMSP-01 applies to a specific programme is a question for that programme's contract or national policy.
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 4815 recommend?
It recommends AMSP-01, Edition E, the NATO modelling and simulation standards profile, for promoting interoperability, best practice and reuse of standards across the M&S domain.
Does STANREC 4815 replace an earlier edition?
Yes. This edition supersedes STANREC 4815, Edition 1, dated 23 February 2018.