Fully rugged 5-inch Android handheld offers superior versatility and configuration options
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

MilDef consists of MilDef AB and MilDef Products AB in Sweden, MilDef Inc., in the US, MilDef Limited in the United Kingdom, MilDef AS in Norway, and MilDef Crete in Taiwan. MilDef develops, manufactures and sells rugged computers and special electronics to customers in the defense sector. This ranges from rugged laptops and tablet PCs to servers & computers, routers and other network equipment. In September 2016, MilDef acquired AMREL's computer division and product lineup. This included the AMREL Rocky DF7A rugged handheld, which MilDef upgraded to the DF8A in February 2018.

For a bit of background on this unit, the MilDef DF8A is an upgrade to the AMREL Rocky DF7A, which itself was a follow-up to the original Rocky DF6, which was launched late 2013. The latest DF8A version shares the dimensions, look and feel of the initial one, but, like the DF7A before it, is an updated Android-only device, whereas the DF6 was originally available with either Windows Embedded CE 6.0 or Android.

While the DF8A looks like a small industrial tablet computer, it's really a rugged handheld. With its wide-format sunlight-viewable display that measures five inches diagonally and offers 480 x 800 pixel WVGA resolution, the DF8A has the display real estate of a modern smartphone. And while the original DF6 has a resistive digitizer, the last two generations of the platform switched to capacitive multi-touch.

As is evident from the pictures above, the DF8A is remarkably compact and slender for a fully rugged device. It measures 3.7 x 6.7 inches — a footprint just a bit larger than that of an iPhone 8 Plus — and is just under an inch thick.

That makes the DF8A considerably smaller and handier than even a compact 7"-class tablet. It can be carried pretty much anywhere. It also weighs just 14.3 ounces, a big plus for military and many other demanding field applications where personnel can't afford to be weighed down by equipment.

The DF8A is powered by a replaceable and externally accessible 13 watt-hour Li-Ion battery, with an optional 26 watt-hour battery also available. MilDef says that's good for 4.5 and 9 hours of operation, perhaps a bit marginal for this type device. For situations where DC power is preferable, there's optional 5V sealed DV-in via a sealed LEMO connector (see LEMO site).

The picture above left shows the backside of the DF8A, which shows the accessible battery compartment, the mono-speaker, and the optional 5-megapixel auto-focus documentation camera with illuminator.

The device is now powered by a 1.0GHz quad-core NXP/Freescale FCBGA 624 ARM Cortex-A9 processor, replacing the quad-core Qualcomm MSM8225Q "Snapdragon" ARM Cortex-A5 processor in the DF7A.

What sets the DF8A platform apart is its superior configurability. As is shown in the column to the right, the bottom of the device can accommodate up to three sealed Fischer connectors (see Fischer Connector website), each of which can accommodate either RS232 serial, USB, LAN, VGA or headset functionality. The top, likewise is highly configurable; customers can order the device with an antenna for one of the optional radios (i.e., WiFi, Bluetooth, WWAN or GPS), and there are two SMA (SubMiniature version A) connectors for those radios as well. This degree of configurability for the job is rarely available, and represents one of the advantages of Amrel's embedded system device architecture.

Since MilDef targets the DF8A for deployment in environmentally demanding applications, the device is built to operate within a wide -4 to 131 degree Fahrenheit temperature range, and it has been independently certified to MIL-STD 810G for shock, vibration, rain, humidity, salt fog, altitude, solar radiation, explosive atmosphere, temperature shock and more. It is also sealed to IP66 level, where the first "6" means it's totally sealed against dust, and the second "6" that it is also protected against even strong jets of water.

With the DF8A, MilDef is affirming its commitment to Android. While the device initially comes with the older Android "KitKat" version 4.4.3, MilDef promises support for newer versions. Compared to its immediate predecessor, the DF8A include not only a new processor (which MilDef says has "packs significantly more punch") but also twice the RAM and four times the Flash storage. Add the choice of optional rugged connectors or connecting the DF8A with a single cable to a breakout box with extra interfaces, and you have a very attractive package for dismounted platoon/company commanders and specialists.