NATO STANAG 4559

Abstract

<strong><u>AIM</u></strong> <br>The aim of this agreement is to promote interoperability for the exchange of NATO Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) products among NATO accessible C⁴I Library Systems. The NATO Standard ISR Library Interface (NSIL Interface) is the standard interface for querying and accessing heterogeneous product libraries maintained by various nations. This standard specifies a common software interface to be implemented and exist for all NATO interoperable library systems. The interface provides electronic search and retrieval capabilities for distributed users to find products from distributed libraries in support of, but not limited to, rapid mission planning and operation, strategic analysis, and intelligent battlefield preparation. Product Libraries and the NSIL Interface are envisioned as a key technology utilized within existing Request for Information (RFI) procedures. The overall goal is for the users, who may be intelligence analysts, imagery analysts, cartographers, mission planners, simulations and operational users from NATO countries, to have timely access to distributed ISR information if Host Nation operational restrictions and security policies permit this access. <br>The aim of this document has extended from the exchange of only imagery to the exchange of ISR information to meet the broader interoperability requirements of the NATO ISR Interoperability Architecture (NIIA), which has undergone a similar name change. The second edition of the NSILI STANAG, the specification continued to focus on imagery. <br>Substantive Changes in this Third Edition of STANAG 4559 address the broader ISR library requirements. The STANAG no longer needs to specify NSIF to define the minimum data model, but the STANAG's ability to allow all standard ISR data formats is the proper state for the STANAG 4559 Edition 3, as a result, Annex E has been revised and renamed as the annex is used to describe the NSIL data types. By incorporating a new metadata model, STANAG 4559 enables web functionality; the Edition 3 Metadata Model details capabilities for the CreationMgr and UpdateMgr supporting more data management options. FTP is now disallowed as an exchange protocol in favor of https: or http. More generally the changes migrated into Edition 3 of STANAG 4559 by means of the metadata model break backward compatibility with Editions 1 and 2 of the standard resulting that the STANAG is not compatible with systems implementing Edition 1 or Edition 2 of STANAG 4559; details are provided in the text at appropriate points. While Edition 3 provides a new metadata model, and supporting metamodel, future versions of the STANAG may reference a registry of implementation profiles and metadata models.