Applications

Defence platforms and subsystems place stringent demands on power electronics, driven by wide and unstable input sources, high transient loads, severe electromagnetic environments, and extreme operating conditions. Power supplies must maintain regulation, efficiency, and reliability while complying with military standards and integrating into complex system architectures. The application examples below highlight some of today’s common defence use cases and illustrate the typical power challenges encountered across modern military systems.

Defence platforms and subsystems place stringent demands on power electronics, driven by wide and unstable input sources, high transient loads, severe electromagnetic environments, and extreme operating conditions. Power supplies must maintain regulation, efficiency, and reliability while complying with military standards and integrating into complex system architectures. The application examples below highlight some of today’s common defence use cases and illustrate the typical power challenges encountered across modern military systems.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs)

Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs)

KOLT Power Advantage:

Kolt’s KEU-PS456-001 is purpose-built for armored vehicle applications, delivering up to 4800W total power with up to 300W per channel across 16 isolated outputs. This high-performance DC-DC converter complies with MIL-STD-1275E and includes an integrated EMI filter to meet stringent emission standards. With forced air cooling, it sustains reliable operation in high-temperature environments common in AFV hulls and turrets. The PS456 is an ideal choice for supplying distributed loads across mission equipment, computing cores, and sensor arrays.

Mission-Critical Computing

KOLT Power Advantage:

Kolt’s KEU-PS456-001 is purpose-built for armored vehicle applications, delivering up to 4800W total power with up to 300W per channel across 16 isolated outputs. This high-performance DC-DC converter complies with MIL-STD-1275E and includes an integrated EMI filter to meet stringent emission standards. With forced air cooling, it sustains reliable operation in high-temperature environments common in AFV hulls and turrets. The PS456 is an ideal choice for supplying distributed loads across mission equipment, computing cores, and sensor arrays.

Mission-Critical Computing

Power Demands:

Modern VPX power supplies for defence applications are increasingly defined not just by rugged form-factor and electrical performance but by alignment with Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) and broader Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) principles. SOSA builds upon OpenVPX/VITA standards by prescribing standardised mechanical, electrical, and interface characteristics, including power supply form-factors and pinouts, to enable true interoperability and modularity across C5ISR and mission-critical embedded systems. Power supplies conforming to SOSA and the underlying VITA 62 standard must support defined input ranges and regulated outputs (e.g., primary +12 V and auxiliary +3.3 V), fault management and monitoring via standard control interfaces such as IPMI/I²C, and modular scalability through paralleling and holdup provisions, all while satisfying extreme environmental and MIL-STD compliance criteria. These requirements ensure that power modules can be mixed and matched across platforms, reduce integration risk, and accelerate technology insertion, core MOSA objectives that are shaping future power architectures toward greater flexibility, interoperability, and lifecycle upgradeability in defence systems.

Power Demands:

Modern VPX power supplies for defence applications are increasingly defined not just by rugged form-factor and electrical performance but by alignment with Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) and broader Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) principles. SOSA builds upon OpenVPX/VITA standards by prescribing standardised mechanical, electrical, and interface characteristics, including power supply form-factors and pinouts, to enable true interoperability and modularity across C5ISR and mission-critical embedded systems. Power supplies conforming to SOSA and the underlying VITA 62 standard must support defined input ranges and regulated outputs (e.g., primary +12 V and auxiliary +3.3 V), fault management and monitoring via standard control interfaces such as IPMI/I²C, and modular scalability through paralleling and holdup provisions, all while satisfying extreme environmental and MIL-STD compliance criteria. These requirements ensure that power modules can be mixed and matched across platforms, reduce integration risk, and accelerate technology insertion, core MOSA objectives that are shaping future power architectures toward greater flexibility, interoperability, and lifecycle upgradeability in defence systems.

KOLT Power Advantage:

The VX247 and VX366 represent this evolution by delivering fully SOSA-aligned 3U VPX power modules that span the 330 W to 500 W envelope with consistent pinout, management, and protection behaviour. Their high-power density, parallel-ready architectures, and integrated EMI and transient mitigation directly support MOSA objectives by reducing integration risk and enabling technology refresh at the module level. The introduction of KOLT’s blue livery marks this generational shift, providing a clear and immediate visual identifier for a new class of VPX power solutions designed from the outset for SOSA compliance, interoperability, and long-term platform standardisation rather than bespoke adaptation.

KOLT Power Advantage:

The VX247 and VX366 represent this evolution by delivering fully SOSA-aligned 3U VPX power modules that span the 330 W to 500 W envelope with consistent pinout, management, and protection behaviour. Their high-power density, parallel-ready architectures, and integrated EMI and transient mitigation directly support MOSA objectives by reducing integration risk and enabling technology refresh at the module level. The introduction of KOLT’s blue livery marks this generational shift, providing a clear and immediate visual identifier for a new class of VPX power solutions designed from the outset for SOSA compliance, interoperability, and long-term platform standardisation rather than bespoke adaptation.

Ground Control Station (GCS)

Ground Control Station (GCS)

Power Demands:

Modern land, sea, and air ground stations encompass a broad range of mission-critical processing, communications, sensor fusion, and control functions, each imposing distinct and demanding power supply requirements. Land stations must contend with variable and often harsh electrical infrastructures, requiring wide input range support, surge and transient handling, and high-availability designs that facilitate hot-swap and redundancy. Naval and ship-borne systems operate in corrosive environments with constrained space and cooling, demanding high power density, robust EMI mitigation, and compliance with stringent MIL-STD electrical and environmental profiles. Airborne ground stations and mission systems face extreme size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints while delivering high throughput and deterministic performance in tightly regulated electrical and thermal envelopes. Across all domains, the trend is toward increased modularity, standardisation (e.g., OpenVPX/SOSA), and intelligent power management, as platform integrators seek to reduce integration risk, enable rapid technology insertion, and support distributed architectures with real-time monitoring, redundancy and fault containment. This evolution is driving power supplies that not only meet legacy ruggedness and efficiency criteria but also deliver scalable, interoperable, and managed power infrastructure capable of supporting next-generation compute, RF, and sensor payloads across heterogeneous defence environments.

Power Demands:

Modern land, sea, and air ground stations encompass a broad range of mission-critical processing, communications, sensor fusion, and control functions, each imposing distinct and demanding power supply requirements. Land stations must contend with variable and often harsh electrical infrastructures, requiring wide input range support, surge and transient handling, and high-availability designs that facilitate hot-swap and redundancy. Naval and ship-borne systems operate in corrosive environments with constrained space and cooling, demanding high power density, robust EMI mitigation, and compliance with stringent MIL-STD electrical and environmental profiles. Airborne ground stations and mission systems face extreme size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints while delivering high throughput and deterministic performance in tightly regulated electrical and thermal envelopes. Across all domains, the trend is toward increased modularity, standardisation (e.g., OpenVPX/SOSA), and intelligent power management, as platform integrators seek to reduce integration risk, enable rapid technology insertion, and support distributed architectures with real-time monitoring, redundancy and fault containment. This evolution is driving power supplies that not only meet legacy ruggedness and efficiency criteria but also deliver scalable, interoperable, and managed power infrastructure capable of supporting next-generation compute, RF, and sensor payloads across heterogeneous defence environments.

KOLT Power Advantage:

KOLT’s AC/DC power supplies deliver high-efficiency conversion with active power factor correction and modular redundancy options, supporting wide input ranges and rugged deployment environments common in tactical and fixed GCS infrastructure, including MIL-STD-704 and MIL-STD-1399 compliance for both single and three-phase inputs. Our DC/DC converters provide isolated, high-power outputs with wide input tolerances and digital communications, engineered to meet MIL-STD-1275/704 profiles and to regulate multiple output rails for vehicle-based and stationary GCS power buses. For embedded processing and modular COTS-based GCS components, our SOSA-aligned VPX power supplies integrate wide input voltage handling, EMI filtering, and rugged mechanical design within the ANSI/VITA-62 3U VPX form factor, ensuring reliable delivery of primary and auxiliary rails under transient conditions. Together, the KOLT portfolio is aligned with today’s GCS requirements by providing standardised, resilient, and scalable power infrastructure that supports open system architectures, reduces integration risk, and meets the electrical and environmental demands of land, sea, and airborne ground station platforms.

KOLT Power Advantage:

KOLT’s AC/DC power supplies deliver high-efficiency conversion with active power factor correction and modular redundancy options, supporting wide input ranges and rugged deployment environments common in tactical and fixed GCS infrastructure, including MIL-STD-704 and MIL-STD-1399 compliance for both single and three-phase inputs. Our DC/DC converters provide isolated, high-power outputs with wide input tolerances and digital communications, engineered to meet MIL-STD-1275/704 profiles and to regulate multiple output rails for vehicle-based and stationary GCS power buses. For embedded processing and modular COTS-based GCS components, our SOSA-aligned VPX power supplies integrate wide input voltage handling, EMI filtering, and rugged mechanical design within the ANSI/VITA-62 3U VPX form factor, ensuring reliable delivery of primary and auxiliary rails under transient conditions. Together, the KOLT portfolio is aligned with today’s GCS requirements by providing standardised, resilient, and scalable power infrastructure that supports open system architectures, reduces integration risk, and meets the electrical and environmental demands of land, sea, and airborne ground station platforms.

Defence Radar Systems 

Defence Radar Systems

Power Demands:

Today’s defence radar systems impose exceptionally stringent power supply requirements driven by the need for continuous, high-integrity operation under wide dynamic loads, severe environmental conditions, and strict electromagnetic compatibility constraints. Radar demands power solutions capable of handling high peak currents and rapid transient events associated with RF transmit/receive cycles, while maintaining precise voltage regulation to support sensitive analog and digital front ends. Input sources can vary widely, from tactical vehicle batteries to shipboard AC mains, necessitating wide input range support, robust surge and transient protection, and high-efficiency conversion to minimise system thermal stress and improve overall reliability. In addition, power supplies for radar must comply with MIL-STD-461/1275/704 and similar defence standards for conducted and radiated emissions, transient immunity, and electrical performance, as well as deliver scalable power for modular architectures like ADS (Active Electronically Scanned Array) and SOSA-aligned processing modules. This combination of high-power density, low noise, intelligent management, and rugged electrical performance defines the current generation of defence radar power requirements and drives the development of increasingly modular, interoperable power platforms with advanced monitoring, fault isolation, and redundancy features.

Power Demands:

Today’s defence radar systems impose exceptionally stringent power supply requirements driven by the need for continuous, high-integrity operation under wide dynamic loads, severe environmental conditions, and strict electromagnetic compatibility constraints. Radar demands power solutions capable of handling high peak currents and rapid transient events associated with RF transmit/receive cycles, while maintaining precise voltage regulation to support sensitive analog and digital front ends. Input sources can vary widely, from tactical vehicle batteries to shipboard AC mains, necessitating wide input range support, robust surge and transient protection, and high-efficiency conversion to minimise system thermal stress and improve overall reliability. In addition, power supplies for radar must comply with MIL-STD-461/1275/704 and similar defence standards for conducted and radiated emissions, transient immunity, and electrical performance, as well as deliver scalable power for modular architectures like ADS (Active Electronically Scanned Array) and SOSA-aligned processing modules. This combination of high-power density, low noise, intelligent management, and rugged electrical performance defines the current generation of defence radar power requirements and drives the development of increasingly modular, interoperable power platforms with advanced monitoring, fault isolation, and redundancy features.

KOLT Power Advantage:

KOLT Power solutions align with the requirements of modern high-performance radar systems by providing wide-input, high-power-density conversion with tight output regulation, fast transient response, and low conducted and radiated noise across harsh operating environments. Designed to support electrically demanding loads such as AESA and next-generation airborne radar, KOLT units maintain output stability under rapid load step conditions associated with beam steering and T/R module activity, while integrated EMI filtering and fixed-frequency architectures support RF coexistence and predictable spectral behaviour. Compliance with military electrical and environmental standards, extended operating temperature ranges, and robust transient and surge immunity enable deployment across airborne, naval, and ground-based radar platforms. Support for parallel operation, redundancy, and intelligent monitoring further enables scalable, fault-tolerant power architectures aligned with open systems and long-life platform strategies, making KOLT power supplies well-suited to the increasing power density, determinism, and integration requirements of sixth-generation and advanced phased-array radar systems.

KOLT Power Advantage:

KOLT Power solutions align with the requirements of modern high-performance radar systems by providing wide-input, high-power-density conversion with tight output regulation, fast transient response, and low conducted and radiated noise across harsh operating environments. Designed to support electrically demanding loads such as AESA and next-generation airborne radar, KOLT units maintain output stability under rapid load step conditions associated with beam steering and T/R module activity, while integrated EMI filtering and fixed-frequency architectures support RF coexistence and predictable spectral behaviour. Compliance with military electrical and environmental standards, extended operating temperature ranges, and robust transient and surge immunity enable deployment across airborne, naval, and ground-based radar platforms. Support for parallel operation, redundancy, and intelligent monitoring further enables scalable, fault-tolerant power architectures aligned with open systems and long-life platform strategies, making KOLT power supplies well-suited to the increasing power density, determinism, and integration requirements of sixth-generation and advanced phased-array radar systems.