The Perpetual
Domination of Circular Connectors
in Military Applications By Jenny Bieksha,
Bishop & Associates Inc.
Military and
defense applications have traditionally used rugged, metal
connectors fully qualified to military specifications. Military
standard connectors are chosen for their performance and
reliability, even in the most severe interconnect applications.
Circular connectors are selected because of their compact, rugged
design and their ability to effectively seal the connector from
environmental hazards. However, the need to reduce government
spending has opened the market to non-military-type components, and
now not all military applications require the same level of
reliability.
Breaking Down Barriers: MIL vs. Commercial
Circular connectors represent over one-third of all connectors used
in the military market sector. Dominated by legacy type
mil-spec
connectors, including MIL-DTL-38999, MIL-DTL-26482, MIL-DTL-5015,
and their derivatives, these environmentally sealed, ruggedized
connectors form the backbone of military interconnects. Circular
mil-spec connectors can be found as the primary I/O interconnect in
a wide variety of military applications in the air, on the ground,
and at sea. Examples include small tactical mission computers for
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), Command and Control On-the-Move
systems, C4ISR Situational Awareness systems, cockpit voice and
flight data flight recorders (CVFDR), fighting vehicles, fuel and
engine sensors, landing gear, and weapon release systems.
Circular connectors are typically divided into mil-spec types and
commercial types. However, with the onset of COTS
(commercial-off-the shelf) requirements imposed by many OEMs,
military, and government purchasing entities, the dividing line has
all but vanished. What has allowed this connector family to sustain
and grow is the ability to adapt to the changing requirements and
demands of the military sector and the ever-changing world of
electronics. Mil-spec type circular connectors are routinely used
today in commercial or industrial applications, and ruggedized
versions of commercial circulars are used in military and other
high-reliability applications.
Defense
applications require vast amounts of processing power, storage
capacity, and network bandwidth. Commercial products can supply
these needs in a way that purpose-built military technology never
could because COTS products are driven by the highly competitive and
rapidly moving world of consumer electronics. Just as performance,
capacity, and bandwidth are driven upwards by the commercial market,
price is driven downwards as competitors strive for market share.
Although new circular connector types will be developed for use in
military applications, they will also be geared towards other
sectors requiring ruggedized products.
Although mil-spec connectors currently dominate the circular product
family, it is important to recognize the other types of circular
connectors found in this family. Metal shell push-pull connectors
that offer reliable connections, low weight, and quick mating and
un-mating, also have found a role in military applications,
especially in portable equipment. Previously known for their use in
the commercial market, push-pull connectors have found numerous
applications in the military and aerospace markets. These include
future soldier systems, handheld/portable radios, night vision
devices, portable navigation systems, guided bombs and missiles,
radar and sonar systems, combat vehicles, aviation and naval
vessels, and unmanned vehicle programs.
Push-pull
connectors must meet a number of rigorous conditions, including
ease-of-use and reliability under the most extreme conditions.
Fisher Connectors designed the Core Series right-angled connector
for use in military ground target location applications. The VECTOR
21 binocular laser range finder digitally communicates with military
PPS-GPS navigation sets and a wide range of battlefield computing
devices to precisely locate distant targets. The majority of these
devices being used today contain a Fischer Core Series right-angled
connector (WSO).
Intermateability
The military market is one of the few markets where the ability to
integrate a piece of equipment built 15 years ago with a piece of
equipment built six months ago ranks as a major factor in design.
For many years, each branch of the service developed their only
programs with their own platforms. It has only been in the last
decade that the military and the government have realized the
importance of all of the individual branches being able to
communicate effectively with each other.
Due to the nature in which aircraft, ships, and military vehicles
and equipment are introduced or upgraded, information obtained from
a system or platform developed in the last year must often first
travel through a system or platform developed a decade ago. For this
reason, one of the critical design features in electronic equipment
built for military use is multiple I/O ports. Mil-spec circular
connectors will continue to adorn new equipment, offering fast,
secure hook-up, regardless of equipment age.
Size and Weight
As presented in the military’s SwaP initiative, both size and weight
will remain key design factors in all equipment developed and built
for the military market. Although similar in many ways, each of
these attributes
contribute
individually to the design of a product. The smaller the size, the
greater the number of components that can be placed on the board,
and in turn, the greater the number of functions that can be
incorporated into one piece of equipment. Weight is also key and
generally tied directly to either a savings in fuel or the ability
to carry additional equipment or personnel. Although not as
important in heavy-duty vehicle requirements, weight is going to
remain a key factor in the development of aerospace equipment, as
well as aerial UAVs.
As defense equipment designers and manufacturers continue the
development and integration of increasingly sophisticated electronic
systems into air, land, and sea-based applications, the demand for
compact, lightweight, rugged, and sealed interconnect systems grows.
There is amazing capability in today's soldier technology, ranging
from night-vision goggles and rifle sights, networked radios not
much larger than a deck of cards, global positioning system (GPS)
receivers, computers the size of cell phones, and more. All that new
capability means extra weight to carry. Today's soldier must strike
the right balance between capability, firepower, and survival
equipment that will enable him/her to perform his mission and then
get back home alive.
In
response to a need to make the solider of the future “pluggable,”
ODU designed the Advanced Military Connector (AMC) series. The
connector series satisfies all customer requirements, including
weight, ruggedness, leak tightness, and data transmission. Various
inserts, such as USB + Ethernet, can be built into the ODU AMC
connectors to ensure that soldiers have the best equipment for
problem-free communication in the field.
Power and data connectors for aerospace and defense applications are
shrinking in size and weight in response to demand for
soldier-mounted electronics, unmanned vehicles, and other
applications where small size and weight are solid requirements. One
problem, however, involves longstanding military
specifications—particularly for the standard military circular
connectors that link electronics boxes to other boxes or devices.
These mil-spec circular connectors are too large for some of the
military's smallest platforms. The priority is to reduce the size of
the connector and still provide a connector with mil-spec
performance.
Universal
Communications
A major drawback recognized by the military is the inability to
effectively communicate between branches and each other. When U.S.
troops were initially deployed to Iraq in the 1990s, there were as
many as 12 different types of radios. Trucks deployed from Reserve
and Guard units could not even talk to each other, let alone with
active duty vehicles. This is when the need for a “joint” system was
recognized as a major requirement by military planners, and the
Joint Tactical Radio System initiative began.
The
system has been implemented into Special Forces, and the number of
radios required at command and control locations have decreased
substantially. This need to provide information sharing through a
networked communication system that is secure, interoperable, and
multi-channel, and allows information to be put in the hand of the
user and beyond the control center, is now a major focus on all new
platforms and vehicles. This focus will require a variety of
mil-spec circular, ruggedized push/pull circulars and RF connectors
for both upgrades and new platforms.
Military standards for ruggedization really have not changed, nor
have techniques to achieve ruggedization. What is new is
miniaturization. For example, the JTRS Handheld-Manpack-Small Form
Fit (HMS) leverages technologies from the commercial cellular
industry to achieve increased capabilities in packages significantly
smaller than current radios. The smallest HMS radio, used on
unmanned aerial vehicles, weighs approximately eight ounces.
Ruggedization does become a challenge as density of electronics
increases and size decreases.
Acquisition Reform In
an effort to cut military spending and reduce waste, the Weapon
Systems Acquisition Reform Act pushes for demonstrations earlier in
the program development phase, and for the desired technologies to
have higher technology readiness levels. Instead of developing many
new programs, the emphasis will be on upgrades, modifications, and
evolutionary development. The selection will be done through
technology demonstrations of mature solutions. This trend is helping
to make prepackaged and prequalified subsystems of greater interest
to platform manufacturers who now find themselves with less time and
available DoD funding to develop a desired technology internally.
The
trend toward complete box-level systems has broadened to include
some offerings that target specific needs, such as embedded
computers for rugged environments. Typical applications include data
and protocol conversion, databus and network bridging, data servers,
data recorders, communications, power controllers, federated
controllers, and multiple net-centric applications. Applications
include helicopter, fixed wing, and ground mobile platforms.
Multiple connector types are used in these applications, both inside
and outside the box, including the D38999 circular connectors as
seen in Ballard’s Avionics BusBox (AB) 2000.
Factors Influencing the Military Circular Connector Market
Driving factors in the military/aerospace sector will continue to be
size, weight, bandwidth, security, ability to operate under extreme
harsh conditions, and power consumption. These factors will have a
significant impact on future developments and manufacturing of all
new products and equipment within the military market, which in turn
will influence connector styles, types, and usage.
Connector manufacturers must start thinking beyond the traditional
mil-spec products, and be willing to look at ways to environmentally
seal and ruggedize “off-the-shelf” connectors. The circular
connector will remain popular due to ease of use, environmental
sealing properties, and intermateability among connector brands.
Bishop Notes
The world total value of connector shipments to the
military/aerospace sector in 2010 was $3,374.4 million. With a
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.2% for the 2010 to 2015
period, the military/aerospace sector is anticipated to show modest,
but steady growth, over the next five years.
Director,
Renewable Energy, Medical, and Test, Measurement, and
Instrumentation, Bishop & Associates Inc. Jenny Bieksha joined Bishop &
Associates in 2008 as its market segment director for the
renewable energy, and the test, measurement, and instrumentation
markets. She is currently a management consultant specializing
in strategic business planning, with an emphasis on the
development of program, market, and product plans. Bieksha has
more than 20 years of experience in the electronics industry,
with a background in market management, business development,
channel sales, product management, and operations for ITT
Corporation, Delphi Connection Systems, and Hughes Aircraft
Company.
Bieksha has a bachelor of science degree in marketing from the
University of Wyoming, and has since received her certificate as
a project management professional.
mil-spec
connectors, including MIL-DTL-38999, MIL-DTL-26482, MIL-DTL-5015,
and their derivatives, these environmentally sealed, ruggedized
connectors form the backbone of military interconnects. Circular
mil-spec connectors can be found as the primary I/O interconnect in
a wide variety of military applications in the air, on the ground,
and at sea. Examples include small tactical mission computers for
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), Command and Control On-the-Move
systems, C4ISR Situational Awareness systems, cockpit voice and
flight data flight recorders (CVFDR), fighting vehicles, fuel and
engine sensors, landing gear, and weapon release systems. 
Defense
applications require vast amounts of processing power, storage
capacity, and network bandwidth. Commercial products can supply
these needs in a way that purpose-built military technology never
could because COTS products are driven by the highly competitive and
rapidly moving world of consumer electronics. Just as performance,
capacity, and bandwidth are driven upwards by the commercial market,
price is driven downwards as competitors strive for market share.
Although new circular connector types will be developed for use in
military applications, they will also be geared towards other
sectors requiring ruggedized products.
Push-pull
connectors must meet a number of rigorous conditions, including
ease-of-use and reliability under the most extreme conditions.
Fisher Connectors designed the Core Series right-angled connector
for use in military ground target location applications. The VECTOR
21 binocular laser range finder digitally communicates with military
PPS-GPS navigation sets and a wide range of battlefield computing
devices to precisely locate distant targets. The majority of these
devices being used today contain a Fischer Core Series right-angled
connector (WSO).
contribute
individually to the design of a product. The smaller the size, the
greater the number of components that can be placed on the board,
and in turn, the greater the number of functions that can be
incorporated into one piece of equipment. Weight is also key and
generally tied directly to either a savings in fuel or the ability
to carry additional equipment or personnel. Although not as
important in heavy-duty vehicle requirements, weight is going to
remain a key factor in the development of aerospace equipment, as
well as aerial UAVs.
In
response to a need to make the solider of the future “pluggable,”
ODU designed the Advanced Military Connector (AMC) series. The
connector series satisfies all customer requirements, including
weight, ruggedness, leak tightness, and data transmission. Various
inserts, such as USB + Ethernet, can be built into the ODU AMC
connectors to ensure that soldiers have the best equipment for
problem-free communication in the field. 
The
system has been implemented into Special Forces, and the number of
radios required at command and control locations have decreased
substantially. This need to provide information sharing through a
networked communication system that is secure, interoperable, and
multi-channel, and allows information to be put in the hand of the
user and beyond the control center, is now a major focus on all new
platforms and vehicles. This focus will require a variety of
mil-spec circular, ruggedized push/pull circulars and RF connectors
for both upgrades and new platforms.
In
an effort to cut military spending and reduce waste, the Weapon
Systems Acquisition Reform Act pushes for demonstrations earlier in
the program development phase, and for the desired technologies to
have higher technology readiness levels. Instead of developing many
new programs, the emphasis will be on upgrades, modifications, and
evolutionary development. The selection will be done through
technology demonstrations of mature solutions. This trend is helping
to make prepackaged and prequalified subsystems of greater interest
to platform manufacturers who now find themselves with less time and
available DoD funding to develop a desired technology internally.
The
trend toward complete box-level systems has broadened to include
some offerings that target specific needs, such as embedded
computers for rugged environments. Typical applications include data
and protocol conversion, databus and network bridging, data servers,
data recorders, communications, power controllers, federated
controllers, and multiple net-centric applications. Applications
include helicopter, fixed wing, and ground mobile platforms.
Multiple connector types are used in these applications, both inside
and outside the box, including the D38999 circular connectors as
seen in Ballard’s Avionics BusBox (AB) 2000.
