OTAN_EN-SCI-271-03.pdf — page 4

STANAG 4586–Standard Interfaces of UCS for NATO UAV Interoperability 
 
 
implementations. A common interface helps to easily integrate new technologies with minor or no 
modifications to the existing systems, and to expand existing systems with new sensors or capabilities. 
1.2 
NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 
Shortly after the establishment of NATO, it was recognized that the co-ordinated development of policies, 
procedures and equipment of the member nations held great potential for enhancing the military 
effectiveness and efficiency of the fledgling Alliance. As a result, the Military Agency for Standardization 
(MAS) was established in London in January 1951 for the purpose of fostering the standardization of 
operational and administrative practices and war material [8].  
In 1971 the MAS moved to NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, where, following the 1998-2000 
review of the NATO Standardization Process, it was combined with the Office of NATO Standardization 
(which addressed broader standardization issues such as identifying overall Alliance standardization goals 
and co-ordination between operational and material activities). The Charter of the resultant NATO 
Standardization Agency (NSA), approved in August 2001, gave the NSA expanded responsibilities for the 
co-ordination of standardization activities within NATO [8].  
In July 2014, as a result of the NATO Agencies Reform, the NSA became without change in its mission the 
NATO Standardization Office (NSO). It is an integrated NATO Headquarters staff element, reporting to the 
Military Committee and the Committee for Standardization [8]. 
The STANAG (Standardisation Agreement) standards are published in English and French by NATO to 
provide common military or technical procedures for NATO members. They define processes, procedures, 
terms, and conditions for common procedures or equipment between the member countries of the alliance. 
STANAGs also form the basis for technical interoperability between a wide variety of communication and 
information systems (CIS). Some are publicly available in NATO's online library [8]. 
2.0 STANAG 4586 
In 1998, a NATO Specialist Team comprising members of government and industry (including CDL 
Systems) began work on NATO Standardization Agreement 4586 (STANAG 4586), a document conceived 
to standardize UCS interfaces to help enable UAV systems interoperability. STANAG 4586 Edition 1 was 
completed in 2003 and ratified by the member countries by 2004, Edition 2 was promulgated in 2007 and 
Edition 3 was promulgated in 2012 [4]. 
STANAG 4586 is divided into two annexes: the first annex provides a glossary to support the second annex, 
the second annex provides an overview of the communication architecture, which is supported by three 
appendices: appendix B1 discusses the data link interface, appendix B2 discusses the command and 
control interface (more specifically B2 covers the military architecture that connects the ground control 
station with the military command hierarchy), appendix B3 discusses the Human and Computer Interfaces 
(HCI) [4].  
Current or “legacy” UAV´s have been designed and procured nationally and contain system elements that 
are generally unique and system specific. They do not have standard interfaces between the system elements. 
This results in a variety of non-interoperable “stovepipe” systems. Although commonality of hardware and 
software would be a solution to achieve interoperability and may be desirable from an economic standpoint, 
commonality is not mandatory [4]. 
The objective of STANAG 4586 is to specify the interfaces that shall be implemented in order to achieve the 
required Level of Interoperability (LOI) according to the defined concept of operations (CONOPS). This will 
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STO-EN-SCI-271