Surge Protectors for Aerospace, Aviation, and Military Applications

Reliable surge protection solutions engineered for lightning, EMI, and EMP mitigation in MIL-STD and RTCA DO-160 environments.

Why Surge Protection is Critical in Aerospace and Military Systems

Aerospace, aviation, and military electronics operate in environments where electrical disturbances are unavoidable; electromagnetic interference (EMI), lightning-induced transients, high-energy surges, and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) events can damage sensitive electronics, disrupt communications, and compromise mission safety.

These electrical threats are not only operational risks, but also compliance challenges. They must be addressed to meet rigorous regulatory and mission assurance requirements.

System-level exposure factors include:

  • Externally mounted antennas and long cable runs
  • Dense electronic environments with multiple RF sources
  • Mission-critical systems with limited tolerance for electrical disturbance

Together, these conditions increase susceptibility to surge events and transient overvoltage, making properly designed surge protection essential at critical power, data, and RF interfaces.

Protecting Avionics and Aerospace Electronics from Lightning and EMI

Aerospace and aviation systems must perform reliably while exposed to extreme altitude, heavy vibration, temperature fluctuation, and proximity to lightning. These conditions increase susceptibility to surges and EMI that can degrade signal integrity or cause system malfunction.

Avionics, flight control, navigation, and aircraft communications are particularly vulnerable to transient energy coupling into system interfaces, making surge protection essential to preserving signal integrity and overall system reliability.

Common aerospace challenges include:

  • Maintaining low insertion loss in RF signal paths
  • Protecting sensitive avionics from lightning transients
  • Balancing electrical performance with size and weight constraints

NexTek designs surge protection solutions engineered to preserve RF performance while supporting RTCA DO-160 environmental and electrical operating conditions common to aerospace and aviation platforms, where surge and transient immunity is a key qualification requirement.

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Surge Protection for Military and Defense Applications

Military and defense electronics face some of the harshest electromagnetic environments – and the highest stakes. Tactical communications, radar and sensing platforms, ground vehicles, and deployed infrastructure must continue to operate reliably and accurately while faced with EMI, lightning exposure, and the threat of high-energy transient events, including EMP and HEMP.

These conditions significantly increase the risk of damaging surge and transient overvoltage across system interfaces, making robust surge protection essential to system survivability in mission critical applications.

Surge protection must also support compliance with military power quality, EMI, and electromagnetic survivability requirements defined by standards such as

  • MIL-STD-461
  • MIL-STD-464
  • MIL-STD-1275
  • MIL-STD-188-125

Defense environments often require protection against:

  • EMI in congested electronic systems
  • Lightning in exposed or mobile platforms
  • EMP and HEMP threats to critical infrastructure

With over 40 years of mil/aero application experience, NexTek provides MIL-STD-ready surge protection solutions engineered to support long service life and mission continuity.

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Where Surge Protection is Required in Aerospace, Aviation, and Military Systems

Surge protection plays a critical role across a wide range of aerospace, aviation, and military systems where electrical reliability is essential. NexTek solutions are commonly applied at key interfaces throughout power, RF, and signal paths.

Typical applications include:

  • Avionics and flight control systems
  • Aircraft navigation and communications
  • In-flight entertainment (IFE) systems
  • Runway lighting systems
  • Tactical and mobile radios
  • Radar and sensing platforms
  • Ground vehicle electronics
  • RF antenna and coaxial signal paths
  • Power distribution and control systems

Recommended Surge Protection Solutions for Aerospace and Military Electronics

  • FPD Series: Multistage lightning protection device designed to meet DO-160G, Section 22 for avionics and aerospace applications
  • FPH Series: Fine, multistage protection for HEMP and LEMP surge, designed to meet MIL-STD-188-125, MIL-STD-461, and MIL-STD-464 standards
  • HPR Series: High current feedthrough EMI/RFI filters for applications from 35 A – 400+ A
  • PTC Series: Fixed GDT designed for consistent protection from DC (0 Hz) to 12+ GHz
  • PTR Series: Replaceable GDT surge arrestors featuring extremely wide passband from DC (0 Hz) to 3+ GHz

Technical Resources for Aerospace and Military Surge Protection

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