The Joint Intermittent Testing (JIT) Working Group announced that MIL-PRF-32516A and MIL-PRF-32516/1 were both published on August 4, 2022. These new specifications represent new standards for electronic test equipment that must be met by military personnel who work on diagnosing intermittent faults.

MIL-PRF-32516A “Electronic Test Equipment, Intermittent Fault Diagnostic (Electrical)” supersedes the March 2015, base document and covers the minimum performance requirements for equipment to detect and isolate nanosecond, microsecond, and millisecond intermittent faults which can occur in conductive paths. Conductive paths include Line Replaceable Unit (LRU)/Weapon Replaceable Assembly (WRA) chassis and backplane circuits and their wire harnesses; weapon system Electrical Wiring Interconnect System (EWIS); and patch cables, electronic test cables and their connectors. The MIL-PRF-32516/1 specification covers “Intermittent Fault Diagnostic Equipment (Electrical), Depot Level” and provides the requirements for acquiring the equipment.

The Joint Intermittent Testing (JIT) Working Group, which was first chartered in September 2012, is a joint services forum that works together to advance intermittent technology and address electronics intermittence across the DOD sustainment enterprise. Electronics maintenance is a leading driver of weapon systems non-availability, accounting for over $10B in Fy18 sustainment costs. It is not uncommon for up to fifty percent of the electronic components entering maintenance to be No-Fault-Found (NFF), exacerbating electronics availability issues and resulting in over 278,000 days of end-item systems non-availability and approximately $3B in non-value-added sustainment costs annually. The JIT WG is championing a DOD initiative to rapidly promulgate intermittence detection and isolation capabilities.

For more information about the JIT Working Group, please visit https://jitg.ncms.org/. Both specification documents can be found at https://quicksearch.dla.mil/.