The military standards are published by a different set of actors to the commercial standards, and importantly, are unclassified. The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD)'s EMC standard is DEF STAN 59-411 (formerly 59-41). Its tests cover both conducted and radiated phenomena, and it applies potentially different requirements to different classes of product. The responsibility for selecting actual tests and levels lies with the procuring authority for each project; in practice the EMC procurement specification will be negotiated with the supplier, based on a shared understanding of the applicability of the standard.

DEF STAN 59-411 in fact consists of several parts, which taken together give both guidance and requirements for all EMC aspects of the whole procurement activity. They are:

Part 1: Management and Planning

Part 2: The Electric, Magnetic and Electromagnetic Environment

Part 3: Test Methods and Limits for Equipment and Sub Systems

Part 4: Platform and System Test and Trials

Part 5: Code of Practice for Tri-Service Design and Installation

Military EMC standards are significantly more onerous than commercial standards. This is due to the range of military radio and radar equipment that are required to operate on military platforms, resulting in a harsh EM environment.

The conducted tests of Part 3 for equipment and sub-systems are shown in the table below (Table 7, abstracted from the standard). There is a different applicability table for man worn or man portable equipment, denoted by the -A suffix rather than the -B suffix for each test.

The table below (continuation of the one above) shows the radiated tests, again for equipment and sub-systems.

Para 8 of the standard says

"The applicability of individual requirements in Tables 6 and 7 for a particular equipment or subsystem is dependent upon where the item will be used. The electromagnetic environments present together with potential degradation modes of electronic equipment items play a major role regarding which requirements are critical to an application. For example, emissions requirements are tied to protecting antenna-connected receivers on platforms. The operating frequency ranges and sensitivities of the particular receivers on-board a platform therefore, influence the need for certain requirements."

An example of this point, which does not appear in other military standards, is the DRE03 test, which applies a radiated emissions test with very stringent limits using a specific type of receive antenna, as will be used on actual installations, rather than a standard measuring antenna.

As a result, military standards have explicit requirements for the formulation of an EMC Test Plan. DEF STAN 59-411 part 1 (Management and Planning) clause 10 says the following:

In order to achieve consistency throughout the phases of EM testing it is essential to formalise details of the test procedures used in the project. The test methods described in Part 3 and Part 4 of this Standard are necessarily generalised and do not specify their detailed application to particular items of materiel. Part 3 covers equipment level tests for “conventional” EMC. Tests against other EM threats e.g. lightning or NEMP (particularly at system level) are not included. Part 4 covers platform and system level tests and trials. Thus the test plan to be drawn up shall state the interpretation of each test requirement adopted and specify sufficient details of the test procedure to ensure its repeatability, when required. It shall show in detail the equipment configuration, the methods of applying power to the equipment, the application of stimulus signals and the application of electrical or mechanical loading.