The military needs equipment that will perform reliably long after standard solutions have failed. Given the certainty of operation in harsh and demanding environments, designing and fabricating equipment for use in military and defense applications requires a great deal of precision and care.
Creating controlled environments for these settings requires versatile solutions that can handle a broad range of complex environmental conditions. Air Innovations has designed and built environmental control systems for a variety of military, aerospace, defense, and homeland security applications.
Military ECUs
The purpose of an environmental control unit (ECU) is to control temperature and humidity within a given area. In a military application, that area may be a tent, a base camp, an aircraft hangar, a vehicle, or a variety of other small spaces. This means that military ECUs must be portable, durable, and quick to deploy.
Some military and defense systems, such as targeting and calibration systems, require highly reliable process ECUs that function properly and consistently. While a commercial or industrial environmental control system shares attributes with a defense or military environmental control unit—such as having specific temperature and humidity requirements or cleanroom level filtration—many defense and military environmental control units are also exposed to harsh environments or require ruggedization to be effective.
Our Custom Military ECU Capabilities
At Air Innovations, we combine advanced equipment and knowledgeable staff to develop ECU solutions specifically for use in harsh and rugged military settings. Our team possesses the capability to tailor ECU solutions to serve in unique or mission-critical applications. We machine to strict tolerances, implement stringent cleanroom production standards, and prepare all military equipment we build for use in some of the harshest conditions around the world.
Our military ECU capabilities cover a range of parameters:
- Pressure control
- Operation in extreme climate conditions (-24°F to +122° F / -31°C to +50°C)
- Relative humidity control tolerances to +/- 0.5%
- HEPA, ULPA, or molecular filtration
- Enclosure sizes ranging from benchtop to room-sized
- Dehumidification (ultrasonic)
- UV air sterilization
- Manufacture for harsh environments (salt air, sand, humidity)
- Severe-duty ruggedization
- Various electrical inputs
Military HVAC UnitMilitary HVAC Systems Case Study– Withstanding Harsh Conditions
We completed a military ECU project for a defense contractor seeking more ruggedized equipment. Our client wanted ECUs that could withstand harsh field conditions such as regular use in the back of a Humvee in extreme conditions.
Our team elected to create a military ECU custom-built to tolerate temperature extremes and variations and handle unpredictable humidity. We designed the ECU in accordance with strict Mil-Spec requirements, employed strict weight and size limitations during design and packaging, and subjected the system to repeated drop testing – something rarely done in the HVAC industry. Ultimately, we provided the defense contractor with an ECU that could operate in a variety of rugged conditions and temperature extremes around the world.
Products From our Military Portfolio
Air Innovations is an industry leader in HVAC and environmental control solutions for OEMs and end-users worldwide. Our systems are ideal for compact spaces and demanding environments. Our military portfolio contains a variety of products:
- ECUs for unmanned vehicles, such as drones and other portable avionics.
- ECUs for security screening, which are used by manufacturers of automated baggage handling explosion detection equipment.
- ECUs for aerospace that help control cleanroom conditions in spacecraft bays.
Why Air Innovations?
At Air Innovations, we’ve designed and built a wide variety of environmental control systems. Our military, aerospace, defense, and homeland security clients turn to us for dependable units that they can trust.
