A Review of Changes and Trends Affecting Military Electronics Manufacturing

Dramatic business changes in the aerospace and military defense industries have caused contractors to drastically alter their design and manufacturing processes. These changes appear to have been influenced by recent events or movements: The U.S. Department of Defense initiative (Perry, 1994 and U.S. DoD, 9 December 1994) discourage dependence on military specifications/standards (the “Perry Initiative”) which resulted in trends within the electronics industry to use commercial materials in typical military environments (alternative component initiatives). Consequently, changes are underway regarding some of the traditional technologies used in defense electronics. Specifically, this paper will present an overview of the changing nature of some of these technologies, e.g. interconnections, coatings, and plastic encapsulated microcircuits (PEMs) and the standards/practices related to these from a manufacturing aspect. The information, provided, is by no means all-inclusive, but does identify a focus for increased discussion and study.