Navy chooses Behlman power supplies to keep ageing AN/UYQ-21(V) shipboard displays in working order

July 20, 2012
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., 20 July 2012. U.S. Navy officials needed large power supplies to keep ageing AN/UYQ-21(V) shipboard display systems operational. They found their solution from Behlman Electronics Inc. in Hauppauge, N.Y. Behlman has received follow-on orders for the company's model 94020 power supplies for the UYQ-21(V) display system.

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., 20 July 2012. U.S. Navy officials needed large power supplies to keep ageing AN/UYQ-21(V) shipboard display systems operational. They found their solution from Behlman Electronics Inc. in Hauppauge, N.Y.

Behlman has received follow-on orders for the company's model 94020 power electronics device for the UYQ-21(V) display system.

The UYQ-21(V) displays are aboard several Navy surface warships, including Ticonderoga-class cruisers, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates, Wasp-class amphibious assault ships, and Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. The displays need high-power electronics control to keep their old cathode ray tube (CRT) screens running.

About 3,500 of the UYQ-21 shipboard displays were produced before production stopped in 20002, Behlman officials say. The UYQ-21 was designed originally in the 1970s by the old Hughes Aircraft Ground Systems Group in Fullerton, Calif., and later received support from DRS Technologies. The Navy started buying the display consoles in 1982.

The ageing display systems in recent years have had problems with their ageing power supplies, which no longer have manufacturer support. Behlman engineers adapted their company's Model 94020 high-voltage commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) power supply to match the size, shape, and performance requirements of the UYQ-21(V) display system, Behlman officials say.

Tests eventually led to Navy approval of the Behlman 94020 design. Production and delivery began in 2007, and the Behlman power supply has proven itself in real-world operation, and the company has received additional orders for delivery in 2012, company officials say.

The Behlman 94020 power supply operates from a 28-volt DC input, and supplies four high-voltage outputs levels as high as 25,000 volts DC, to power the UYQ-21(V)'s color CRT display. The Behlman 94020 is a rugged design suited to withstand the rigors of shipboard combat operations.

Behlman Electronics is a subsidiary of Orbit International Corp. in Hauppauge, N.Y., manufactures standard, modified standard, custom, and COTS power electronics, including AC power supplies, frequency converters, inverters, DC-DC, AC-DC, and DC-AC power supplies, and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units.

For more information contact Behlman online at www.behlman.com.

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About the Author

John Keller | Editor

John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.

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