As you can guess, in this article I will discuss about military standard MIL-STD. It is a standard of the US department of defense and used for the purpose of achieving standardization of various objectives set by US department of Defense. It was established after WW II to provide uniform requirements and ensure interoperability for the military and its secondary industries. It focuses on requirements, processes, procedures and practices as well as technical and engineering methods.
Regarding MIL-STD certification meaning, if a device passes the tests then it is MIL-STD certified. Howevern many products that claim to be MIL-STD have not been sbjected to these rigorous tests. The best way to know, for sure, is to ask for test methods and results.
Currently, there are several dozens of MIL-STD standards. Each takes up the requirements and tests methods of different parts of equipment such as motors, mechanics, electrical installation (e.g. power supply), telecommunication, hardware, etc. We will focus on those that interest us as LaRocheNoire Technology, that is what concerns Hardware and its tests.
There are a few MIL-STD standards that handle electronic components and hardwares: MIL-STD-883, MIL-STD-750, MIL-STD-202, MIL-STD-196, MIL-STD-202, MIL-STD-1553, MIL-STD-1389, MIL-STD-810. I am going to give some description of each of those standards below.
- MIL-STD-883 is for Test method standards for microcircuits. It provides various test methods to determine resistance to the harmful effects of natural elements and conditions, including military and space operations. These methods include test methods, controls, and procedures for microelectronic devices suitable for use in military and aerospace electronic systems, including basic environmental testing. It also describes the controls and constraints necessary to ensure a level of quality and reliability for mechanical and electrical testing, work and training processes, and the intended applications of this equipment.
The devices mentioned in the MIL-STD-883 standard include monolithic, multi-chip, film and hybrid microcircuits, networks of microcircuits and elements from which circuits and networks are formed. This standard is intended to apply only to microelectronic equipement.
Test methods, controls and procedures are designed ot determine the appropriate conditions that can be achieved in the laboratory and to give test results equivalent to actual service conditions available in the field, while also ensuring reproducibility. - MIL-STD-750 is test methods for semiconductor devices. It defines testing methods for the environmental, physical and electrical testing of semiconductor devices utilized in military and aerospace electronic systems. The methods and procedures throughout the standard cover basic environmental, physical and electrical tests to assess resistance to deleterious effects of natural elements and conditions surrounding military and space operations. For this standard, the term “devices” includes such items as transistors, diodes, voltage regulators, rectifiers, tunnel diodes, and other related parts. This standard is intended to apply only to semiconductor devices.
- MIL-STD-202 is test methods for standard electronic and electrical components. This standard creates uniform methods for testing electronic and electrical components, including basic environmental testing, physical and electrical testing to determine resistance to the harmful effects of natural elements and conditions surrounding operations military.
- MIL-STD-196. This standard covers electronic products under the Joint Electronics Type Designation System (JETS). In US, today, a classification method described by military standard MIL-STD 196 and called Unified Electronic Type Designation System is used for all types of equipement, electronic systems, subsystems and similar equipment. In this method, the task of the equipement is represented by a code consisting of the platform on which it is mounted, letters and numbers.
- MIL-STD-202 is one of the most important regulatory standards for defense contractors. This standard establishes uniform methods for testing electronic and electrical component parts. This compliance testing includes basic environmental tests. The objective is to determine resistance to the deleterious effects of natural elements and conditions.
- MIL-STD-1553 is a standard that describes the characteristics of the serial data bus. It is a redundant digital data bus used by the US military and aerospace. Initially intended for integration of weapon systems, today this data bus is found in many military applications such as test simulation, test facilities, control and monitoring centers, etc. embedded in aircraft, ships submarines, armored vehicles and also in ISS or James Webb telescope.
- MIL-STD-1389. This standard establishes the design requirements for Standard Electronic Modules (SEM) for the Standard Hardware Acquisition and Reliability Program (SHARP) for use in military systems. Other requirements for new module development are specified in MIL-M-28787 for the appropriate class selected to meet the system/equipment environmental requirements.
- MIL-STD-810 is a standard that was created by the US Army’s Developing Equipment Testing Laboratory. Since the standard was exclusivly reserved for military equipment when it was created, it now equips a multitude of military and civilian products at the same time. Made up of a range of around twenty laboratory tests, simulating real, hostil and dangerous extreme conditions that the device will face during daily use, MIL-STD-810 aims to prove that the product is robust and really ultra resistant for use in a real profesional environment.
This list is not exhaustive. I just gave the most used standard for military hardware. This list is of course much longer in in order to cover all system and subsystems in great detail. You can easily find the full list by doing a google search. As LaRocheNoire Technology, we use often the mentioned standards above. Sometimes we use other MIL-STD standards that are not on this list, but be aware that as LaRocheNoire Technology, we are not limited to the standards mentioned above.