MIL-STD-461 is a United States Military Standard that outlines the testing requirements for electromagnetic compatibility of equipment. It ensures that military devices can operate without interference from electromagnetic emissions and are resilient to such emissions from other devices. The standard is comprised of nineteen test methods that include conducted emissions, conducted susceptibility, radiated emissions, and radiated susceptibility.
Requirements for testing are based on the type of platform that the equipment or subsystem is designed to be installed in. These include surface ships, submarines, Army aircraft, Navy aircraft, Air Force aircraft, Space Systems, and Ground Systems for Army, Navy, and Air Force. These requirements also include applicability of testing, test levels to be achieved, and required frequency ranges.
Conducted Emissions Testing
Conducted emissions testing measures the electromagnetic interference (EMI) that electronic equipment emits through power or antenna ports. CE101 applies to power leads for audio frequencies, CE102 applies to power leads for radio frequencies, and CE106 applies to antenna ports.
Radiated Emissions Testing
MIL-STD-461 radiated emissions testing ensures that the equipment does not exceed specified limits for radiated emissions, which is crucial for maintaining operational integrity in military and aerospace applications. RE101 Radiated Emissions, Magnetic Field testing is primarily for surface ships, submarines, and Army aircraft and flight line equipment. This testing is conducted from 30 Hz to 100 kHz. RE102 Radiated Emissions Electric field is performed on frequencies between 10 kHz and 18 GHz dependent on application.
Susceptibility Testing
Military susceptibility testing includes radiated and conducted test methods. These methods involve simulations of magnetic, radio frequency, Electrostatic Discharge (ESD), and Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) sources of potential disturbance. Susceptibility requirements are determined by type of equipment, type of platform the equipment is to be operational on, and location of the equipment on that platform.
Test Plan Requirements
Electromagnetic Interference Test Procedures EMITP are essential for MIL-STD-461 effective testing. These documents should include essential information detailing Equipment Under Test (EUT) set up, execution of test procedure, pass/fail criteria, and tolerances per the requirements of DI-EMCS-80201.
CVG Strategy EZ-Test Plan Templates
CVG Strategy provides a wide array of test plan templates that meet industry standards including military electrical power standards. This documentation ensures that testing is performed accurately and that necessary data is collected. These documents help communicate test requirements to test facility operators and test engineers. Test plans are available for the following standards:
- MIL-STD-810 Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests
- MIL-STD-461
- MIL-STD-704
- MIL-STD-1275
- MIL-STD-1399-300B
- IEC 60529
Several categories of test plans are available for developmental test and evaluation of defense products. These include:
Ingress Protection test plans are available for testing per IEC 60529 for enclosure testing against dust, penetration, water splash, water jet spray, and immersion.
MIL-STD-810 Training
CVG Strategy offers a two-day Training for MIL-STD-810 Program designed to provide you with a solid basis to build your knowledge and expertise. This live training webinar will give you and your employees who are new to environmental and dynamic testing a jump start towards understanding and learning the very complex and lengthy testing standard and its methods.
CVG Strategy Test and Evaluation Expertise
CVG Strategy can assist your product development team with test and evaluation expertise. We provide can provide compliance by analysis reports, create custom test program documentation, provide troubleshooting and analysis for difficult EMI/EMC issues and perform finite element analysis.