How to Electrify Aerospace and Defense with State-of-the-Art Design and Test Solutions

Aerospace & Defense Look to Electrification

Defense and commercial aerospace organizations are moving toward electric vehicles to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and recognize the numerous other benefits electrification offers. Fully electric vehicles tend to have fewer breakable parts demanding available spares, helping to lower vehicle maintenance costs

Defense organization’s movement toward electrification is a strategy that will build a competitive advantage as electric-powered ground, airborne, and marine vehicles offer significant benefits to military operations. Electric vehicles have high-torque electric motors that enhance battlefield mobility and enable silent-watch and silent-run capabilities

Commercial aerospace corporations are also looking at electrification as they face intense pressure from governments, advocacy groups, and private citizens to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, the sustainable aviation movement is growing as climate change segues quickly from an abstract concept to daily reality. Electric-powered aircraft can help address sustainability issues

With recent investments in electric vehicles (EVs) by the automotive industry and significant technology advancements, defense agencies and aerospace corporations now see an opportunity to harness  these developments

Requirements for Electric-Powered Ground, Airborne, and Marine Vehicles

Today’s electric-powered automobiles have three main elements — charging technologies, energy storage devices, and power conversion / inverters. Electric-powered ground, airborne, and marine vehicles for aerospace and defense applications will use the same technologies. However, each application has different performance requirements that align with unique use cases in the industry

For example, subsurface marine vehicles may require higher capacity energy storage to support propulsion over extended periods without recharging. Electric aircraft may demand higher energy-density batteries to address strict weight restrictions and passenger-carrying aircraft must meet rigorous safety regulations. Military and commercial aviation both require fast charging capabilities

Design and Test Solutions

Introducing electric vehicles into the aerospace and defense ecosystem will require extensive coordination between government authorities, defense agencies, and private corporations. Commercial regulators must develop strict certification requirements, while defense organizations must apply the same rigor to military platforms. The test and measurement industry plays a central role in collaborating with stakeholders to devise test solutions that enable broad deployment

Various design and test solutions and services are now available to support the aerospace and defense industry’s path to electrification

Align Charging Technologies with Industry Requirement

It is critical for the aerospace and defense sector to ensure compatible charging standards. The economic viability of air taxi service relies on the ability to quickly recharge electric aircraft at new vertiports. Militaries must establish consistent communication and power-transfer protocols for their vehicles to ensure the readiness of battlefield resources in geographically disparate and often remote areas

Test solutions must emulate both the charging station and vehicle charging interface to verify compatibility and conformance. To test a vehicle-charging interface, the test system must emulate the charging station, adhere to the protocols of a given standard, and determine how the vehicle charging interface responds. Similarly, to test a charging station, the system must emulate a vehicle-charging interface, adhere to the protocols of a given standard, and measure how the charging station responds