BY: Lynda Haig Thoresen | Marketing, Communication & Sustainability Manager
The most demanding of all rugged development projects are military solutions as they are multidisciplinary tasks, demanding both experience and specialist skills.
Rugged military solutions are usually developed with certification in mind and this sets even higher demands on the development team. Investing sufficient time and resources early in the design phase is key for successful product certification, as is understanding the requirements and implementing the necessary design solutions. The cost and consequence of a design failure will increase significantly if detected in later stages of the development.
Essential requirements from industrial projects are time to market, cost efficiency, product lifetime and life cycle management. This experience, combined with in-depth-knowledge of military requirements and standards and our highly skilled engineers has made us successful also in the military and defence marked.
Our ability to develop high tech military and defence solutions according to MIL-STD’s is a result of more than 30 years’ experience in the embedded solutions industry.
Customised military solutions
We have made several full customised military solutions for customers in the Nordic region. Our highly skilled and experienced engineers have in-depth knowledge about military standards, requirements, development and formal qualification.
Many of these solutions are in the forefront of military technology and modes of operation, and have a short timeline from definition of user needs to deployment.
Recently, and under development, are several communication units with LTE and network capabilities, enabling the military to benefit from the global deployment of 2G/3G/4G and future 5G networks. They must comply with standards as MIL-STD-461, AECTP-500, MIL-STD-810 and MIL-STD-1275.
The embedded vehicle computer, used as controller, for both wheeled and tracked vehicles. The solution was developed and certified to function in extreme environmental conditions. This proven solution has been in use since 2012 with a very high operational readiness rate and complies with MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-810 and MIL-STD-1275.
Rugged portable bridge display unit used for harsh and demanding conditions that complies with MIL-STD-810 and MIL-STD-461.
Investing sufficient time and resources early in the design phase is key for successful product certification, as is understanding the requirements and implementing the necessary design solutions. The cost and consequence of a design failure will increase significantly if detected in later stages of the development.
MIL-STD-810F/G
Military and defence solutions must often comply with the demands from MIL-STD-810F/G. These solutions needs to be able to withstand extreme tough use and must have excellent operational readiness rate as they are transported and put to action in almost every corner of the world.
The military standard MIL-STD-810F/G addresses a range of environmental conditions that include: exposure to high and low temperatures plus temperature shock (both operating and in storage), low pressure for altitude testing, rain (windblown and freezing rain), humidity, fungus, salt fog, sand and dust exposure, explosive atmosphere, leakage, and acceleration.
A very demanding but positive aspect of the MIL-STD-810F/G standard is the test, verification and documentation regime in the development project. In addition, all suppliers to the project must be qualified according to the demands and documentation one is subjected to.
MIL-STD-461E
The military standard MIL-STD-461E addresses the requirements for the control of electromagnetic interference (EMI) emissions and susceptibility characteristics of electronic, electrical, and electromechanical equipment and subsystems.
Designing a product that meets strict requirements requires engineers with extensive knowledge of both electrical and mechanical design to avoid unintentional generation, propagation and reception of electromagnetic energy, which may cause unwanted effects such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) or even physical damage in operational equipment.
It is crucial to follow best practice design guidelines and investing sufficient resources for assessing the product early in the development phase in order to avoid costly re-spins and delays to the product development plan due to failed tests.
AECTP-500
The military standard AECTP-500 is NATO’s version of MIL-STD-461 (US Government). AECTP-500 is based on a combination of requirements from different European defence standards and MIL-STD-461 (USG). MIL-STD-461 is still the main standard used for certification of military products, however, AECTP-500 is expected to be used more for military products intended sold in Europe in the coming years.
MIL-STD-1275E
One of the hardest challenges met during development is managing to design a rugged, protected, power-efficient design within limited available space.
The military standard MIL-STD-1275E addresses power-supply requirements that has to be met by equipment intended to be used in various military vehicles, including electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), cranking/starting mode, and operating mode from battery and generator-only operation with their associated spikes, surges and operating limits.