When the Swedish Armed Forces enter critical and hostile situations on land or sea, it is Micropol’s fiber optic technology that keeps systems connected. Since the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) introduced fiber optics to the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) in the early 1980’s, Micropol has partnered with FMV in developing passive fiber optic components for extreme environments.
FMV’s non-standard and demanding specifications for harsh conditions ranges from extreme heat to melting and freezing snow. The equipment needs to be resistant to damage, abrasion, deformation and breakage. One result of these extreme demands is the FALCON expanded beam connector developed by Micropol. It is used by the SAF in all applications where rugged components are a requirement. FALCON is the smallest 12 channel expanded beam connector on the market that fulfill the beam diameter specified in MIL-DTL-83526. Tested to meet the world’s toughest specifications and with very low insertion and return loss.
“Several qualifying tests has been performed by FMV, with four brands of expanded beam optical connectors. The aim was to expose the connectors for temperature cycling and different endurance tests with the purpose to verify the connector’s resistance to the specified environmental they were exposed to. The result came out very favorable for the FALCON system”, says Mikael Andersson, R&D Director at Micropol.
To summarize the testing performed and to inspire engineers within the defence and security segment, Micropol has published a white paper which is found here.
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