NATO STANAG 4671 is the NATO Standardized Agreement 4671 which is the UAV SYSTEM AIRWORTHINESS REQUIREMENTS (USAR). It is intended to allow military Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to operate in other NATO members airspace.
Contents
Page 5 states "If a National Certifying Authority states that a UAV System airworthiness is compliant with STANAG 4671 (and any appropriate national reservations), then, from an airworthiness perspective, that UAV System should have streamlined approval to fly in the airspace of other NATO countries, if those countries have also ratified this STANAG."
Edition 1 was promulgated in Sept 2009.
Draft edition 3 was being commented on (e.g. by the aircraft industry) in Sept 2014, calling attention to slow progress and highlighting concerns.
Scope
It covers fixed-wing UAVs from 150 kg to 20,000 kg, that do NOT need "for normal operation the presence of a pilot that directly controls the UAV using a control box (e.g., stick, rudder pedals, throttles, etc.)"
It covers all aspects of the UAV system including communication links and control centre.
It covers, e.g. ground handling characteristics, landing gear, UAV external 'position' lights, Command and control data link loss strategy, Emergency recovery capability, (including deliberate flight termination using explosives).
Sense and avoid
Page 7 states "It is recognized that ‘sense and avoid’ is a key enabling issue for UAV operations. The derivation and definition of ‘sense and avoid’ requirements is primarily an operational issue and hence outside the scope of USAR. However, once these requirements have been clarified, any system designed and installed to achieve these objectives is an item of installed equipment within a UAV System and hence falls under the airworthiness requirements of USAR."