What are the Military Standards for Electronic Products?

Military often works in extreme conditions, which is why they need heavy-duty tools and gadgets. This is the reason why every military product has to qualify certain quality standards, before getting purchased.

United States Military has some fixed quality standards such as MIL-STD and MIL-SPEC. The U.S. Department of Defense uses only those electrical products that qualify these specific defense standards. Army uses various standardized products like mil spec wire, connectors, cable ties, and ring terminals etc.

To qualify for the set standards, all these items must contain qualities such as:

Resistance – To be compatible with tough situations, it is necessary for electronic items to be resistant. According to the military standards, electronic products like wires and connectors must be resistant to chemical, water, and impact. Heat resistance is also important.

Reliability – To work in extreme situations, military needs dependable gadgets. This is why reliability is considered important in standardization. It is important that army personnel can trust their tools even in extreme conditions.

Compatibility – Compatibility should be another quality of Mil Spec electronic items. It is necessary for them to be compatible with other devices used by the army in harsh weather conditions. All products must be strong enough to be used in aerospace and marine applications.

Total cost of ownership – Total cost of ownership (TCO) helps in determining the total costs of a system, whether it is direct or indirect. TCO is included in the military standardization regulations, which makes it necessary for electronic products to meet the requirements of total cost of ownership.
Due to harsh and unpredictable conditions, military only uses electronic products that qualify their quality tests. Every electronic product for army is built in the accordance with all the given specifications.

Many other industries and organizations like non-Defense government also use these defense standardized electrical items, as electronic item that qualifies for army standards are considered to be of the best quality.