STANAG 4586
CDL Systems has been a leading participant in the development of a NATO interoperability standard for unmanned vehicles, Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 4586. This standard establishes a common protocol to facilitate the interoperability of various, heterogeneous vehicles from a common control station. It is an effective standard for both military and emerging commercial unmanned vehicle applications.
The Need for Interoperability
Traditionally, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have been developed as stovepipe designs. System manufacturers have focused on airframe designs and have typically developed the ground control station (GCS) component as a tool for flight-testing the airframe. This has led to a lack of standardization between dissimilar systems and the use of proprietary telemetry and sensor data streams. Consequently, systems lack the ability to interoperate with each other.
NATO identified the need for standardization to promote interoperability between tactical UAS systems amongst the allied forces. This would enable asset sharing by allied nations, allow for increasingly network-centric operations, and diversify UAS concept of operations (CONOPS).
In 1999, the NATO Industrial Advisory Group (NIAG) Sub Group 53 (SG/53) presented the findings of a pre-feasibility study on unmanned air vehicle (UAV) systems interoperability. The study recommended that a NATO UAV Control Station (UCS) Standardization Agreement (STANAG) be developed to facilitate UAS interoperability.
Developing STANAG 4586
In 1998, a NATO Specialist Team comprising members of government and industry (including CDL Systems) began work on STANAG 4586, a standard conceived to standardize UCS interfaces to help enable UAS interoperability. The United States Navy (USN) PMA-263 office provides custodianship of STANAG 4586.
STANAG 4586 was developed as an Interface Control Definition (ICD) defining a number of common data elements for two new interfaces:
- Data Link Interface (DLI) between the GCS and the air vehicle(s)
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- Command and Control Interface (CCI) between the GCS and C4I systems
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The definition of data elements for interfaces allows for many configurations of interfacing GCS and air vehicle systems without identifying specific system requirements. STANAG 4586 also addresses UAS functional architecture definition, identifying system and subsystem components, and makes use of existing and developing standards where possible.
Levels of Interoperability
The following example illustrates the realization of full interoperability: A UAV flying overhead a STANAG 4586 GCS, for which it has not been “natively” developed, could be passed for control to this GCS with the vehicle being safely controlled to 100 percent of its required capabilities. In practice, 100 percent control of vehicle capabilities may not be required. For example, a GCS may only be required to take control of an EO/IR sensor on an overhead UAV, while flight controls are delegated elsewhere. STANAG 4586 facilitates this by providing five levels of interoperability:
- Level 1: Indirect receipt/transmission of UAV related payload data
- Level 2: Direct receipt of ISR/other data where “direct” covers reception of the UAV playload data by the UCS when it has direct communication with the UAV
- Level 3: Control and monitoring of the UAV payload in addition to direct receipt of ISR/other data
- Level 4: Control and monitoring of the UAV, less launch and recovery
- Level 5: Control and monitoring of the UAV (Level 4), plus launch and recovery
Functional Architecture of the Data Link Interface
STANAG 4586 defines the DLI as the interface between the GCS and the UAV. As most air vehicles support a “native” ICD, STANAG 4586 introduces a new intermediate system component, the Vehicle Specific Module (VSM). The VSM functions as translator between the STANAG 4586 ICD and the vehicle’s “native” ICD.
Configuration and Private Messaging
By enabling the interoperability of multiple vehicles from a common STANAG 4586 GCS, operators can interoperate UAVs with widely different performance characteristics and features. While it defines a generic control interface, STANAG 4586 uses configuration messages to request air vehicle and payload configuration information including:
- Expected ranges of vehicle platforms
- Applicability of generic parameters to a vehicle
- Availability of generic parameters from a vehicle
- Extensibility of parameters
This information is used by the UCS to configure the air vehicle and payload operator displays to show only necessary information. While the UCS is required to support all generic functionality, it is expected to remove functionality not supported by a controlled vehicle. As the UCS cannot know all the control logic for all vehicles, the VSM can be used to identify the current state of vehicle parameters.
Private or user defined messages can be implemented for the DLI to allow for tighter integration and customizability and to accommodate functionality not found in the STANAG 4586 ICD.
The First STANAG 4586 Flight Demonstration
CDL Systems was responsible for the first public demonstration of STANAG 4586 in Suffield, Canada in 2004. Using the VCS-4586 software, full level 5 interoperability was demonstrated using the Advanced Subsonics Grasshopper UAV. The UCS was hosted on a Linux laptop and the VSM was developed by Xiphos Technology.
STANAG 4586 in Operation
STANAG 4586 has developed substantial momentum in the unmanned industry and is often a compatibility requirement in defense contracts for UAV systems. As an open, non-proprietary standard, STANAG 4586 is available for military applications and emerging commercial applications.
CDL Systems has developed VCS-4586, the world's first STANAG 4586 compatible vehicle control station software available commercial off-the-shelf. To learn more about VCS-4586, click here.
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