Military and Defense Systems
RF Interfaces for Guided Munitions
A precision munition carries its RF hardware through an acceleration that would destroy most electronics, and then has to work perfectly, once, for a matter of seconds or minutes. There is no maintenance, no second attempt and no opportunity to discover a marginal joint in service.
High Setback
Seeker
GNSS
Telemetry
Single Flight
20,000 g
Setback Load
DC–40 GHz
Coverage
-65° to +165°
Temperature
Design Notes
Surviving Launch, Then Working Once
Five constraints unique to guided-munition interconnect.
01
Setback Acceleration
Gun-launched rounds see accelerations orders of magnitude beyond any airframe environment. Every component has to be supported so that its own mass does not tear it off its mounting.
02
Volume
The airframe diameter is fixed by the launcher. RF hardware fits in what is left after the warhead, the guidance section and the actuators have taken their share.
03
Seeker Feed Integrity
The seeker is the whole point of the weapon. Its feed has to hold loss and phase through launch, or the terminal accuracy the system was designed for is not achieved.
04
Long Storage
Munitions sit in magazines for years before they fly. Corrosion, plating migration and dielectric ageing all happen during storage, not during flight.
05
Cost at Volume
These are expendable. The interface has to be reliable and manufacturable at a unit cost that survives a production contract.
Reference Data
Typical Munition Requirements
Programme specifications govern. These are representative.
| Parameter | Typical Requirement | Relevant Series | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setback | Programme dependent, very high | Supported designs | Mass support is the design driver |
| Seeker band | Ka-band typical | 2.92mm, 2.4mm | Millimetre-wave seekers |
| GNSS / telemetry | L / S-band | SMA, SMP | Compact formats |
| Volume | Minimal envelope | SMP, SSMP | Airframe diameter constrained |
| Storage life | Years in magazine | Corrosion-resistant plating | Ageing dominates |
| Temperature | -65 °C to +165 °C | Defence series | Storage and flight |
Our Role
What We Supply for Guidance Sections
01
Compact Rugged Interfaces
SMP and SMA formats that fit the envelope and are supported against the acceleration the round actually sees.
02
Guidance Section Harnesses
Short, fully supported assemblies routed to the section drawing, built so nothing is free to move under setback.
03
Production at Contract Volume
In-house manufacture, so unit cost and consistency both hold across a full production run.
Selected Products
Interfaces for Guidance Sections
Typical starting points for munition interconnect. Send us the envelope and the setback spec and we will propose the configuration.
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0.031″ Semi-Rigid Low-Loss RF Coaxial Cable, 18 GHz Rated
$20.00 Add to cartQuick View -
SMA Female 4-Hole Flange Mount RF Connector – Field Replaceable, 8.64mm Hole Spacing, 0.23mm Pin Diameter
$22.00 Add to cartQuick View -
SMP Male Full Detent RF Connector – Stub Terminal, Thread-In, Solder
$22.00 Add to cartQuick View -
SMP Male Smooth Bore RF Connector – Stub Terminal, Thread-In, Solder
$22.00 Add to cartQuick View
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Guidance Engineering Support
Designing a Guidance Section?
Send us the envelope, the setback environment and the bands, and our engineers will propose the interconnect.