Aerospace, Military and Defence


Safeguarding vulnerable electronics in war zones


By Paul Currie, sales and marketing director, MPE Ltd F


ixed and mobile tactical shelters in war zones enhance a military commander’s ability to mobilise, deploy, manoeuvre and sustain forces. Fixed means housed in a


permanent structure, whereas mobile denotes a unit that is transportable and deliverable. Rapidly deployed to fulfil versatile applications in support of the increasingly complex defence operations of the 21st Century, mobile shelters in steel or lightweight aluminium alloy are designed to have a high strength-to-weight ratio. They range from small, trailer-mounted types through 20ft ISO containers positioned by crane or forklift to the largest “internal airlift slingable container unit” (or ISU), moved into position typically by a Chinook helicopter. Containers may also be vehicle-mounted, as with the Cormorant and Falcon communications systems for the British Army.


All shelters are vulnerable to electromagnetic threats where they may house “C4ISTAR” battlefield management technologies (for “Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Information / Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance”). In practical terms, this means computer systems, telecommunications and radar, power supplies and portable electronic devices.


Strategic success, and most importantly lives, literally depend upon whether C4ISTAR equipment systems function smoothly, unaffected by electromagnetic threats and data interception amid all the turmoil of battle. High performance EMI filters play a vital role in providing a benign electromagnetic environment in which the equipment can operate correctly. The performance of the EMI filters coupled with the shielding effectiveness of the shelter are designed to reduce conducted and radiated electrical interference to an acceptable level. Whilst all applications require a certain level of continuous wave filtering, some additionally require transient pulse protection. The three chief types of commercial-


12 March 2022 Mobile tactical shelter


off-the-shelf (COTS), line protection filter designs used in tactical shelters are for TEMPEST, EMP and HEMP applications. They are typically bulkhead-mounted at all cable entry points on the inside or outside wall of a shelter to protect the incoming mains supply to equipment. Additional filters are often installed on racks inside the shelter to provide extra equipment level protection and to prevent inter-equipment interference.


TEMPEST filters


Aimed at information security, filters for TEMPEST, an acronym for Transient ElectroMagnetic Pulse Emanation Standard, prevent eavesdropping on data radiated as signals from computers and peripherals via conducting lines (such as power, telephone or control line cables). These signals may be intercepted by an enemy’s intelligence services. For instance, a classified signal from a laptop inadvertently picked up and transmitted down an unprotected


Components in Electronics


telephone line could potentially be accessed by intercepting the telephone cable many miles away. Equally vulnerable are incoming power cables.


The accepted industry standard for TEMPEST EMI filter performance is 100dB in a frequency range from 14kHz to 10GHz, with a secondary level of TEMPEST protection of 60dB from 100kHz to 1GHz on individual pieces of equipment within a given shelter. This may call for power, data, telephone and control line filters to cover all systems at risk.


EMP filters


The performance of ElectroMagnetic Pulse (EMP) filters has traditionally been accepted as 60dB at 10kHz rising to 80dB from 100kHz to 1GHz. All lines in these multi-line systems feature high-energy transient suppressors, such as varistors, spark gaps or silicon avalanche diodes, at the input end. Each transient suppressor has to give an ultra high-speed response to arrest the incoming


pulse. The purpose of this front-end transient suppressor (primary protector) is to shunt the bulk of the pulse energy to earth. Secondary and tertiary protection may be provided by further transient suppressors fitted at later stages of the filter to help further reduce the remaining pulse voltage to a safe level. To provide delay to the incoming pulse, filtering components are either mounted at a distance from the primary protector or separated by a discrete inductor.


As well as delivering EMI/RFI protection in compact form at all electrical access points, well designed EMP filters provide minimum heat dissipation and leakage current as well as minimum size and weight which are critical within mobile shelter applications. Internal filter components (capacitors and inductors) are extremely reliable and are expected to last for several decades without anything more than cursory maintenance. The ongoing integrity of the transient suppression components should be checked periodically,


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