EMC Testing for Aerospace and Defence
Rohde & Schwarz provides EMC test solution for Hanwha Defence Australia
Avoiding and overcoming EMC risks to platforms, whether airborne, shipborne or on land, which can jeopardise the security and operational capabilities of electronic systems, is a difficult task. New challenges arise from the increasing number of on-board transmitters for satellite and ground communication, self-defence, and monitoring and surveillance. In addition, there are new technologies, larger bandwidths, higher speeds, and the use of new materials, such as carbon fibre, that have an impact on the complex electromagnetic compatibility. Aerospace and military EMC testing standards are designed to minimise the risk of malfunction or worse, due to interference either within a platform or from external sources.
In September 2024, Hanwha Defence Australia (HDA) announced they had chosen a Rohde & Schwarz designed and built EMC test solution. This capability is part of Stage 2 of the Hanwha Armoured vehicle Centre of Excellence (H-ACE) facility where HDA is building the LAND 8116 Phase 1 Huntsman vehicles and LAND 400 Phase 3 Redback Infantry Fighting Vehicles.
Rohde & Schwarz test solutions within the Hanwha E3* capability provide crucial electromagnetic interference/compatibility assurance, mitigating the impact of a contested and congested electromagnetic environment on the operational capability of military equipment, systems, and platforms and ensuring they are fully prepared for battlespace operations.
Custom built with a bespoke turntable for heavy vehicles, the E3 capability will be the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere, providing the means for H-ACE-built vehicles to be tested to internationally recognised standards. Rohde & Schwarz Australia will be responsible for all elements of supply, including the in-country coordination and delivery of the E3 capability, and will also train a highly skilled technical workforce to operate the facility.
At the H-ACE located near Geelong in Victoria, HDA will build 129 Redback IFVs under LAND 400 Phase 3 while 30 AS9 Huntsman self-propelled howitzers and 15 AS10 armoured ammunition resupply vehicles will be built for LAND 8116 Phase 1.
The EMI/EMC chamber at the H-ACE will support a world leading capability for HDA which will also be offered to Defence and Defence Industry customers as a service. The ability of the H-ACE to form the centre of an Australian Industry Capability Hub has been an important consideration in HDA’s planned development and future.
As the leader in EMC spectrum testing, Rohde & Schwarz has been supplying EMC test equipment for over 50 years and its test experts have been advising EMC standard authorities on T&M issues for decades. The R&S ESW range of EMI test receivers at the core of compliance test feature not only the widest dynamic range, highest accuracy, and lowest noise available, but also the ultra-fast time-domain scans to achieve fast and reliable tests in line with up-to-date test regulations. Rohde & Schwarz has a wide-ranging test equipment portfolio that is based on in-depth EMC compliance, pre-compliance, and debugging expertise and supports all relevant commercial, wireless, automotive, military and aerospace EMC standards.
*The components of E3 include Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), Electromagnetic interference (EMI), Electromagnetic pulse (EMP), Electromagnetic vulnerability (EMV), Lightning, Radiation hazards (RADHAZ), Precipitation static (P-Static) and Electrostatic discharge (ESD).