As part of an aircraft’s certification for flight, the aircraft must demonstrate safe operation within a range of environmental conditions. This includes Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (E3) testing which, for civil aircraft, includes High-Intensity Radiated Field (HIRF) and lightning tests. HIRF and lightning testing involve:
1. High-level whole aircraft testing
2. Hybrid of low-level aircraft testing and high-level equipment testing.
For both test methods, fibre optic links (FOLs) are essential to prevent compromising the measurements.