scope:

AIM

The aim of this agreement is to promote interoperability of present and future Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) in a NATO Combined/Joint Service Environment. Interoperability is required because it will significantly enhance the war fighting capability of the forces. Interoperability will increase flexibility and efficiency to meet mission objectives through sharing of assets and common utilization of information generated from UASs. The objective is to enable interoperability between the ground segments (e.g., UCSs), the air segments (e.g., Unmanned Aircraft (UA), and the Command, Control, Communication, Computer and Intelligence (C4I) segments of UASs operating in a NATO Combined/Joint environment. Compliance with this agreement alone enables, but does not achieve full interoperability between various UASs. Specifically, this agreement does not address platform and/or sensor operators' proficiency levels, nor does it define the CONOPs necessary to enact full interoperability. Levels of Interoperability 3-5 assume a CONOPS supporting the operation of a UA and/or its payload(s) by other than the organic unit responsible for the UA. The implementation of the specified standard UCS interfaces will also facilitate the integration of different types of UASs into a NATO Combined/Joint Service battlefield environment. The herein specified standardisation will support interoperability of legacy as well as future UASs.