EMC testing for military and space

EMI room for MIL and Space testing

DELTA conducts accredited testing of equipment used for military and space purposes. The requirements on the products are extremely strict, in order that the products can withstand the harsh stresses to which the equipment will be exposed in space or during military use. An accredited test provides documentation that the requirements have been met.

Specialised testing equipment

Testing to these standards is an extensive assignment, which requires specialised testing equipment, and lasts from one to several weeks for the EMC test.

Experience and knowledge

DELTA has tested military and space equipment for decades. We test according to the MIL standards, which differ a lot from the EU EMC basic standards used in civilian environments.

MIL and space requirements

MIL standards and aerospace contracts are used in the defence and aerospace industry. 

Environments and tests

The standards often cover all user environments, which can be environmental parameters such as temperature, vibration, shock, moisture and exposure to aircraft fuel. The MIL standards also specify testing for electrical lightning, transients, electromagnetic fields from radio services, radar, etc.

User environment classes

The standards all require the specific user environment to be further specified:

Is the equipment installed in a ship, on an aircraft or carried by personnel - fixed or mobile?

The requirements are specified in various classes, where some environments require testing with weak signals, some with extremely severe interference signals.

EMC emission test

The emission requirements are also adjusted with respect to the electrical environment. Some emission requirements are extremely severe, and it may be difficult to meet the emission limits, which may be 10-20 dB lower than for CE-marking of commercial equipment. 

EMC MIL test procedure and test specification

A dedicated test plan and a detailed, tailored test procedure are required to perform a MIL or aerospace test. Each of the 10-12 test parameters must be selected with respect to the relevant frequency range, test class or environmental class. The test plan contains information about the test object and its variants as well as performance criteria and relevant function modes during the test. DELTA will develop the documents in cooperation with you.

Function test and performance verification

The test specification contains information about the totally specific function test in connection with the verification of the test's result, and about every connection and exposure of the object being tested that is to be carried out. Typically, the specification will be 10-15 test parameters, and the document is typically between 30 and 100 pages long. DELTA offers to write the documents in cooperation with you.

EMC MIL phenomena

An EMC MIL test contains testing according to a number of basic standards, each containing information regarding test set-up. 

EMC phenomena specified in MIL-STD 461F (or the former MIL-STD 461D/462D or MIL-STD 461E):

• CE 101, Conducted emission, 30 Hz-10 kHz
• CE 103, Conducted emission, 10 kHz-10 MHz
• CS 101, Conducted susceptibility, 30 Hz-100 kHz
• CS 109, Conducted susceptibility,
  structure current, 60 Hz to 100 kHz 
• CS 114, Conducted susceptibility, 10 kHz-200 (400) MHz
• CS 115, Conducted susceptibility,
  bulk cable injection, impulse excitation
• CS 116, Conducted susceptibility,
  damped oscillatory waves, 10 kHz - 100 MHz
• RE 101, Radiated emission, H-field, 30 Hz-100 kHz
• RE 102, Radiated emission, E-field, 10 kHz-18 (40) GHz
• RS 101, Radiated susceptibility, 30 Hz-100 kHz

• RS 103, Radiated susceptibility, E-field, 10 kHz-10 GHz

Further CE, CS, RE and RS tests are available upon request

Accredited test report

An accredited test report following a successful test provides documentation that the tough requirements on the equipment have been met. It will normally be a requirement to document the actual test set-ups and results in the report in the form of both figures and a detailed description in the report. A MIL and space report becomes an extensive one. The large amount of data means that the test report runs to between 50 and 100 pages, including annexes.

Contact Test & Consultancy support for more information