O-111 Development of NATO STANAGs and Related Documents for Energetic Materials

In a memorandum dated 27 September 2000, the United States Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology directed that NATO Standardization Agreements (STANAGs) and Allied Ordnance Publications (AOPs) be used when appropriate in the acquisition of munitions, and that DoD personnel ensure that every effort is made to draft STANAGs and AOPs such that their equivalent US document could be eliminated. This policy is one part of the Department of Defenses acquisition reform, which involves increased use of non-DoD standards, including internationally-recognized commercial standards and other international standards, such as the NATO STANAGs. Improved interoperability with NATO allies is specifically stated as one of the goals of the policy.

Since the issuance of this guidance, the efforts of the USA representatives to the Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD) Ammunition Safety Group, AC/326, and its subgroups have been directed toward the goal of replacing USA military standards with appropriate NATO STANAGs and AOPs. For example, MIL-STD-1751A, which dealt with the qualification of energetic materials (explosives, propellants, and pyrotechnics), was recently cancelled and the USA Section of AOP-7 was recommended as its replacement. Other documents are also under development with an eye toward making the NATO documents suitable as replacements for existing DoD standards.