STANREC 4839 MIMO electronic countermeasure testing recommendation

What it is

STANREC 4839 is a NATO Standardization Recommendation, Edition 1, on multiple input multiple output (MIMO) electronic countermeasure testing procedures. A STANREC is built on the same idea as a STANAG, with one difference that matters: a STANAG is an agreement nations ratify, a STANREC is a recommendation they are free to take up. This document shows that difference directly - 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)," rather than being committed to anything.

What it recommends

STANREC 4839 carries no testing procedure of its own. Its stated aim is to give "Technical testing recommendations for military systems in relation to Long Term Evolution network configurations with a view to international acceptance and agreement." The point of that agreement, in the document's own words, is that it "enables broader understanding, reliance and possible burden sharing between Allies for operational waveforms, techniques and equipment." The one standard it puts forward is "AEP-4839, Edition A" - everything else in the STANREC is context around that single recommendation, and this page prints no technical detail about the testing methods AEP-4839 itself sets out.

It also names two related recommendations as further reading, not additional obligations: STANREC 4756, covering AEP-4756, on inhibition trial procedures for barrage electronic countermeasures against point-to-point radio links, and STANREC 4805, covering AEP-4805, on compatibility trial procedures for electronic countermeasures against radio controlled improvised explosive devices.

Who is behind it, and how it is kept current

The tasking authority is CNAD, AC/224 NAFAG, ACG3. STANREC 4839 "is to be reviewed in accordance with AAP-03," with the result "recorded within the NATO Standardization Document Database (NSDD)." This is the first edition - the document states plainly that "this STANREC does not supersede any document" - and the letter of promulgation dates it to 14 July 2021.

Where it has force, and where it does not

STANREC 4839 addresses "the participating nations and NATO bodies," not a supplier or manufacturer directly. It binds nobody by itself: whatever an organisation ends up doing comes from a nation's own procedure, a NATO programme office, or a contract that separately invokes AEP-4839, not from this STANREC existing. It is a NATO non-classified document, handled "in accordance with C-M(2002)60," and free of charge - the reproduction restriction that otherwise applies is lifted for "member and partner nations, or NATO commands and bodies."

How it is checked

STANREC 4839 names no certification body, no government quality assurance arrangement, no notified body, and no self-declaration scheme. The only assessment it describes is aimed at the document itself, the periodic AAP-03 review above, not at an organisation, a product, or a testing programme. Whatever review a supplier's MIMO electronic countermeasure testing actually gets is set by whichever nation, programme office or contract requires AEP-4839 on a given programme, and that review sits outside this STANREC entirely.

Standards it references

• STANREC 4756Background
• AEP-4756Background
• STANREC 4805Background
• AEP-4805Background