Overview

The armed forces require electronic systems that are substantially more rugged and reliable than commercial and industrial electronic systems, especially those that will be installed on combat aircraft, ships, and vehicles. These requirements are spelled out in military specifications and standards that cover all phases of procurement from design of components to manufacturing and testing. The qualification of basic components from resistors and capacitors to ICs is more thorough, and some semiconductor devices are subjected to 100 percent testing, and those tests must be documented. Military electronics equipment is subjected to more severe environmental stresses than comparable commercial, industrial, and consumer electronics. Emphasis is on the survivability of equipment operating at temperatures from the extremes of those encountered in the Arctic to those encountered in the desert, as well as exposure to shock, vibration, salt spray, and radiation from nuclear weapons. The lives of soldiers, sailors, and airmen depend on the reliability of that equipment.

Among the specialized electronics purchased only for military applications are long-range surveillance radars and systems for secure communications, missile guidance, active night-vision, and fire control for artillery, tanks, and antiaircraft guns. Nevertheless, many important parts of the military electronics inventory such as radio transceivers, telephone equipment, aircraft instruments, navigation aids, and ground-controlled landing systems are more rugged versions of comparable civilian equipment.

Electronics developed for military systems during World War II and for many years after, because of the cold war, were at the cutting edge of electronics technology, and much of this knowledge...