scope:

GENERAL

The purpose of this chapter is to outline those aspects which need to be considered when defining the service environment for inclusion in the Staff Targets and Requirements. This chapter also gives guidance on the use of the NATO agreed climatic categories and their geographical location.

It is essential that Staff Targets and Requirements for defence materiel should provide the fullest possible information on the environmental conditions which the materiel will encounter during transportation, storage, maintenance and use throughout its planned service life.

The environmental conditions to which defence materiel is subjected are separated into the naturally occurring environments and those that are induced. Since the induced environmente depend on the specific role for which the materiel is intended it is not generally possible to anticipate the levels of the induced environments in the same way that values can be anticipated for the naturally occurring environments.

The basis for preparing the service environmental requirement is to establish the Manufacture to Target or Theatre Sequence (MTS) which the materiel will encounter. For some materiel there may be a number of such sequences, and it is for the Procurement Authority to decide which to quantify and upon which the design of the materiel is to be based.

It may not always be possible to quantify the environmental conditions that need to be specified, since in some cases these may have to be determined during the design and development phases of the materiel. However, in all cases as much information as possible should be given in synoptic form to aid this process and to establish a well defined frame of reference within which the materiel will be expected safely to survive and operate.

Where relevant it is important that attention is drawn to any environmental condition which is likely to occur and which may, in combination with other likely occurring conditions, affect safety, storage or operation of the materiel in a manner more serious than that resulting from any of the separate environments.