What Is MIL-STD-810H?

MIL-STD-810H is the US Department of Defense test method standard for environmental engineering considerations and laboratory tests. It was published in January 2019, replacing MIL-STD-810G, and updated by Change Notice 1 in 2022. Although it was written for military equipment, it is the reference most rugged electronics manufacturers use to show how their products cope with heat, cold, shock, vibration and the other stresses of real use.

The standard is in three parts. Part One sets out the environmental engineering process: working out the conditions equipment will meet across its life, from storage and transport to operation, and tailoring the tests to match. Part Two holds the laboratory test methods, numbered from 500 upwards, each with procedures and suggested levels. Part Three gives climatic data for regions around the world to guide that tailoring.

Tailoring is the central idea. MIL-STD-810H does not set one pass level for every product. Instead, the test plan chooses the methods, procedures, levels and durations that reflect the equipment’s intended environment, which is why two products can both claim MIL-STD-810H and have been tested very differently.

Part Two contains around 30 methods. The ones most often quoted for computers, displays and other electronics are below.

Methods 514.8 and 516.8 are the most common on industrial computer datasheets, because vibration and shock are what a computer meets on a vehicle, a machine or a delivery route. Each method has several procedures, so a full claim names both, such as Method 516.8, Procedure I (functional shock).

No. There is no MIL-STD-810H certificate and no body that grants one. The standard describes how to run tests; the manufacturer, a customer or an independent laboratory runs them against a test plan. A claim is therefore only as strong as the evidence behind it.

You will see several forms of wording. “Tested to MIL-STD-810H” usually means specific methods were run, in-house or at an external laboratory. “Designed to comply with MIL-STD-810H” means the product was designed and validated against chosen methods. “Military grade” on its own tells you nothing without the methods. When a specification matters, ask for:

MIL-STD-810H answers a different question from the ingress and impact ratings that sit beside it on a datasheet. An IP rating under IEC 60529 covers dust and water getting in; our IP rating chart explains each level. An IK rating covers resistance to a measured impact, as our explainer on what an IK rating measures sets out. MIL-STD-810H covers the wider environment, so a rugged system specification normally quotes all three.

MIL-STD-810H is also one of a family. Power, electromagnetic and shipboard requirements sit in separate standards, which our guide to US Department of Defense military standards maps out.

For computers, MIL-STD-810H is most often quoted for shock and vibration, with extended temperature handled by the operating range. Fanless designs with no moving parts, soldered or locked memory, screw-locked connectors and solid-state storage all help a system pass. Mounting matters just as much: a computer tested on a rigid fixture may behave differently on a flexible bracket, so the installation should follow the mounting used in the test.

Many of our rugged computers list MIL-STD-810 methods. The Premio RCO-6000-RPL rugged industrial PCs and Premio JCO-1000-ORN Jetson computers, for example, are designed to comply with MIL-STD-810H for shock and vibration.

We match the computer to the shock, vibration and temperature profile of each installation as standard, and supply the manufacturer’s test information for the methods it is designed to meet.