Military and aerospace cables and harnesses require the utmost performance and reliability. In these applications, they are literally making the difference between life and death. It’s as simple as that.
That means not only that our custom fiber optic cables and our entire range of custom cables must meet rigorous military specifications, but also that this same level of detail and conformance to specifications permeates our entire cable manufacturing operation.
What Is MIL-SPEC Cable?
A Mil-Spec cable has been built to one or more rigorous military standards established by several U.S. Government organizations.
As just one example, MIL-DTC-83420P is a 29-page document that specifies the details for flexible wire for aircraft control. The specified operating temperature range is -65 degrees F to +250 degrees F. There are eleven ASTM standard test methods specified for testing the cable. It also specifies the required tensile strength, elongation, water absorption, brittleness, stiffness, heat deflection temperature, melting range, and burn resistance.
A further example is that the type of cable’s nylon jacket needs to be resistant to several types of hydraulic fluid, jet fuel, lubrication oil, de-icing fluid, and cleaning compounds. This Mil-Spec goes on to specify each individual test to ensure that the cable meets these standards.
Military and Aerospace Cable Demands
From that description, you can get a sense of the demands associated with manufacturing military and aerospace cables that meet these stringent specifications. Here’s a quick breakdown of those critical demands.
- Quality. A cable or connector failure can easily result in a field failure. Whether that’s a weapon or an aircraft failure, it can either save lives or lose lives. That requires meeting specifications for high voltage, vibration, and contact force, as well as extreme temperatures and other demanding conditions.
- Strength and Reliability. Failure isn’t an option in military and aerospace applications. To ensure strength requirements are met, testing can range from impact survival, vibration extremes, high pressure, as well as abrasion and wear.
- All Environment Operations. From military applications in the Arctic, the desert, and on and under the ocean, to space applications in orbit around the Earth or even the Sun, cables need to handle it all and keep working. The design of cables in these environments must consider all relevant factors, including temperature extremes and radiation exposure.
- Complex Applications. The list of applications in the military and aerospace industries runs from field communication equipment and surveillance drones to satellites and complete weapons systems. That requires a great deal of expertise and experience to manufacture the custom cables needed to fit these applications and meet the rigorous quality specifications.
Critical Aspects of Radiation-Hardened Fiber for Military and Aerospace Applications
Importance of Quality Control
It’s one thing to work through all those military specifications in the design and construction of custom cables. It’s yet another to implement all the rigorous testing that ensures that the cables meet those requirements. It’s not always the case that once the cable is built to the specifications that it will also perform to those same specs.
That’s why Cables Unlimited is certified under the AS9100 Standard from the Aviation, Space, and Defense (ASD) industry. This standard requires “creating and maintaining a comprehensive quality system for providing safe and reliable products to the ASD industry.”
The AS9100 is not a product or personal standard; rather, it requires the company to control its processes, ensuring the end product meets customer requirements and satisfaction. The benefits of obtaining certification are extensive, the least of which is endorsement by all major aerospace regulators, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US Department of Defense (DoD), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Manufacturing Custom Military Cables for Unique Applications
You’ll also find that our organization brings those same skills and attention to detail acquired producing military and aerospace cables to everything they do.
We Can Help
We produce military fiber optic cable assemblies for a variety of air, navy, ground, and aerospace applications:
- MIL-SPEC connectors.
- Mil-Spec cables from quality manufacturers.
- Harsh environmental/tactical/military connectors.
- TFOCA. TFOCA II, 38999, 28876, and standard commercial optical connectors.
- MIL-C 27500 cables and military and aircraft cables.
If you are in the design stage of your cabling solution, we can provide engineering assistance and prototyping services. If your requirements are already specified and ready for a quote, we are uniquely positioned to meet your deadlines and pricing targets, due to our extensive in-house services and advanced manufacturing capabilities.
With production facilities on both coasts of the United States, Cables Unlimited can assist customers here and worldwide with their most challenging custom wire harness and assembly requirements.
But we offer much more than state-of-the-art manufacturing – our dedicated team is also known for going to great lengths to meet the needs of our customers, including working around the clock to meet tight turnaround time requirements.
Our sales representatives are available to assist you with product questions and provide quotes Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern. You can also send us an email or complete our contact form, and we’ll get back to you promptly.
