Many different companies manufacture “Ruggedized VME cards”, but they still use the standard VME COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) connector interface. In a harsh military environment the COTS VME connector interface can fail, negating all of the ruggedization on the cards. 

The Amphenol Ruggedized VME64x interconnect has a more rugged interface than standard connectors for improved vibration durability. It meets the needs for a more ruggedized interconnect for harsh environments requiring Level 2 maintenance. Military and commercial aviation, military vehicles and GPS systems are examples of markets that need the ruggedized VME64x connector solution from Amphenol.

The Amphenol Ruggedized VME64x connector mounts to standard VME64x cards and backplanes, but it does not mate to other types of VME commercial connectors.

Features and benefits include:

• Metal shells - mount directly to the standard VME card mounting holes, providing support and protection to the inserts in the module and additional stiffness to the backplane
• The metal shells create a faraday cage around the contacts, preventing ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) into the contacts (module only)
• An adapter is available that will easily mount the Amphenol Ruggedized VME64x connector to a standard COTS VME64x
• Robust contact system
• 3 module inserts in one unified shell; each can have different interconnect combinations:
• P1, P2 and 2mm electrical P0
• P1 and P2 combination
• P1, P2 and fiber optic MT ferrules in the P0 position
• Inserts are designed to customer specifications
• Optional solderless termination on the backplane connector is available