The ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English standard was developed by the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) to write Component Maintenance Manuals (CMMs) for Air, Land, Sea and Space vehicles. The S1000D documentation specification is mandated for NATO interoperability, standardization and safety. Ask us about the ASD-STE100 Standard.
Click for STE Before and AfterThe ASD-STE100 standard has a core vocabulary of approximately 1,000 key words, including 208 verbs, and Simplified Technical English grammar rules.
The MAXit Checker uses Agentic AI and 19,000+ inferences to check text for ASD-STE100 compliance. Click link for data sheet.
Simplified Technical English (STE) is a global standard to write Component Maintenance Manuals (CMM)
mandated by the FAA, EASA and other regulatory agencies.
The use STE is part of iSpec ATA2200 and S1000D. The use of STE is proven in 149 countries by all airlines.
The MAXit Checker
checks for grammar, style and STE compliance.
The Australian Defence Forces (ADF) mandate Simplified Technical English (STE) to ensure that all
technical content is clear, concise and easy to read. This mandate is important for
mission-critical information to prevent linguistic ambiguity, human errors and compromise safety.
STE removes ambiguity, improves clarity and enhances readability.
Extract from DEF(AUST) 5629C Australian Defence Forces Regulation.
NOTE: The MAXit Checker checks both STE and Macquarie dictionaries.
The use of both Simplified Technical English (STE) and S1000D are mandated for AUKUS submarine .xml documentation. The MAXit Checker checks for grammar, syntax, style and compliance to a common language that spans engineering teams in UK, USA and Australia.
The shipbuilding industry uses either the S1000D or the Shipdex standard. The benefits for multinational shipbuilding includes standardization of engineering terminology. The MAXit Checker checks both standards for grammar, style, syntax, vocabulary and .xml structure.
The SMART team assisted Northop Grumman E-2D team to develop a technical dictionary for this unique Radar Command and Control aircraft. The US Navy mandates that maintenance documentation must be in Simplified Technical English for clarity, efficiency and interoperability. The MAXit Checker for Arbortext checks documentation in .xml and S1000D format for grammar, style, syntax and STE vocabulary compliance.
SMART developed a Controlled English SATCOM version from STE for the US Satellite Control Network. The dictionary is curated for LEO Satellite software, network operations, telemetry (TT&C), mission success and risk management. The Controlled English is a low-cost solution to prevent high-cost human errors.
The SMART team used the SMART Text Miner to adapt STE for Textron Aviation and US Army uncrewed Shadow drone. SMART was awarded U.S. Army excellence challenge coins (shown left). The MAXit Checker checks for grammar, style, syntax and compliance to the STE vocabulary.
The SMART team curated specialized rotary terms from NATO, U.S. Army DLAT, FAA, CAA and EASA to form a technical dictionary. This dictionary, of approximately 8,500 terms, links to the Simplified Technical English core. The MAXit Checker checks for grammar, style, syntax and STE compliance.
Our experts have many years of experience in Aerospace and Defense documentation specifications, including
S1000D, Shipdex, ATA2200, ASD-STE100, STANAG 4586, MIL-STD-40051E, DO-178C,
.xml, .dita, .sgml, IETM and ITAR compliance.
The SMART team offers services to convert MIL-STD-40051 to S1000D.
The MAXit Checker for Arbortext can process both .xml document formats.
The curated dictionaries in the MAXit Checker are ideal to write Safety Management documents for eVTOLs, electrical propulsion systems, air navigation, flight operations and airline customer experience.
An audit version of the MAXit Checker uses AI rules to read and redact text for ITAR compliance. The
Sherlock version scans .xml documentation
and automatically redacts (hides) classified information.
If a convenience translation is permitted, computer-aided language translation tools can create accurate translations from the STE source text. The convenience translation version helps the global MRO workforce to solve the shortage of aviation technicians.
Simplified Technical English is ideal for Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals (IETMs) that are distributed electronically to global users.
Our technology partners are Adobe (FrameMaker), Microsoft (Word), IBM (WatsonX, DOORS), Jira, Siemens (Teamcenter), PTC (Arbortext Editor), Nvidia (PTX, CUDA, C++, Linux and Python) and other publishing systems.
Click a version to download or view (.pdf) Data Sheet.
The Starter Kit is ideal for proof of concept to test STE. The kit includes one MAXit license, STE dictionary (Issue 9) and starter technical dictionary from the SMART library. All dictionaries are easy to customize and scale for Air, Land, Sea, Cyber and Space.
