What are the key requirements for Defence Hydraulic applications?

We would say engineering support over product life, easy upgrades to meet a specification, reliability, serviceability and configuration control. The product has to offer underlying quality and value for money as well.

Why does Engineering Support over the long term matter to Defence designers and specifiers? 

Over more than 40 years, we would say that is massively important to specialist users like Defence. If a life cycle is 15 or 20 years, it is massively helpful to be able to talk to the designers and manufacturer if a question arises. On day one, you will know clearly what you are buying and have the ability to talk to applications people in quite a lot of depth should you need to. Does this mean that some products are unsuitable for defence? If you are not quite sure what something is manufacturer from and nobody can answer a simple question, we would say move on and buy something else.

How can you upgrade the specification at a reasonable price?

Specification is critical for defence hydraulic applications, How can you stop a catalogue product morphing into an exotic special product with a high price tag and long lead time? We have some answers.

Where there is a special requirement such as low temperatures, low magnetic permeability or aggressive fluids, we can accommodate these or we can identify a problem and suggest a solution if it falls within our capabilities. Our company philosophy 40 years ago was to be able to offer changes to specification easily, at modest cost and on reasonable lead time where we could. Do you need fluorosilicone seals on a MW series hand pump? We can offer them. Do you need carrying handles to tie down a Micropac portable reservoir? No problem. Our kit is modular and within reason, modifications are possible. We can allocate a part number for a special unit and capture changes on one drawing. Customers know precisely what they are getting.

Does reliability matter if you can easily swap out a component?

This cost-driven approach is a very common industrial purchasing philosophy, but does it work in Defence?

There are defence systems that are manufactured using basic or cheap parts on the basis that they can easily be swapped out or there is a back up. That philosophy which is commonly seen in commercial hydraulics has limitations if you need something to work when required, if lives are at stake and if you cannot replace it with the same unit when it fails. There are some important points in this. For most designers and specifiers, a quality reliable unit wins every time.

Why will a hydraulic hand pump not work when I need it to work? There are quite a few reasons, some inherent in a design or manufacturing process and some much more subtle. A good starting point is the right product offered for the application. You won’t be offered a carbon steel piston rod for a marine application or an alloy body for water glycol.

Should a Defence customer expect a hydraulic product to be serviceable?

We would always say yes. If kit is critical to a mission or lives, you need to be able to repair it.

What is configuration control?

Defence designers and specifiers are very concerned that all units on a defence platform are the same or if they have been changed, there is a process to ensure that they meet the original requirements. Is that a big ask on commercial hydraulic equipment?

Nothing is worse in Engineering than continual design changes and modifications on production kit. If you need to aim at the minimal number of changes over long periods, that is a special sort of business.. That takes a high level of engineering support over many years to provide configuration control. If you are selling factored products that you have just bought in to resell, that is going to be a very tough requirement. If you are designing and manufacturing the product you sell, then configuration control is practical. Another big issue in configuration control is that users must be able to see instantly what issue or revision a component is. This is normally achieved by incorporating some obvious feature into the outside of a hydraulic products so that however dirty or caked with paint, it is obvious that there is a milled notch in a metal plate or similar identifier. Sarum Hydraulics is always happy to talk Configuration Control.

Specification is critical for defence hydraulic applications, coupled with efficient ongoing engineering support. Where there is a special requirement such as low temperatures, low magnetic permeability or aggressive fluids, we can accommodate these or we can identify a problem and suggest a solution if it falls within our capabilities.

What are the most commonly used Micropac hand pumps for Defence application?

Look at our Micropac MW series pumps for versatile, high quality and well-engineered manual hydraulic power. There are three versions available: the MW-3 316 stainless steel unitMW-A alloy and stainless steel unit and MW-S carbon steel unit. Our compatible range of MR Hydraulic Reservoirs provides fixed and portable reservoirs in a range of materials. The range of portable reservoirs includes two wheel trolley units with hose stowage.

Our Micropac MP Pressure Test Pump is widely used for pressure testing, charging and filling. A portable hydraulic reservoir with carry handle is included with these hydraulic pumps. Large reservoirs incorporate a two wheel integral cart or a mounted on a four wheel platform trolley of our manufacture.

Our Micropac MD two speed hydraulic hand pump is available in three models up to 1000 bar and with all our options within the ordering code. The unit is 316 stainless and bronze.

Sarum Hydraulics has a good track record of cost effective custom hydraulic pumps for defence applications. Contact us to discuss your requirements.