Power Plug — 4 Pin Contacts, Size 12, MIL-DTL-55181

Specifications

Cross-Brand Compatibility

Applications

MIL-DTL-55181 is the US military power-connector family for vehicle and manpack installations: a heavy, keyed, centre-screw-coupled connector built to carry 35 A circuits rather than signals. The best-known application is the SINCGARS vehicle adaptor, where an M55181 pair carries power in and power out to mount the radio in a vehicle, and the 18-contact version carries the audio/data output.

The part number decodes in two blocks. The digit after the slash is the configuration — 1 plug with socket contacts, 2 panel receptacle with pin contacts, 3 plug with pin contacts, 4 panel receptacle with socket contacts, 7 plug with 18 pin contacts, 8 receptacle with 18 socket contacts. The final two digits are the cable-size designator (01-05) from the specification sheet, so two numbers that differ only in that suffix are different harness entries, not different connectors.

Shells are aluminium alloy with a steel alloy nosepiece; the standard finish is cadmium plate with olive drab chromate, and the finish letters used on the family are E (cadmium), N (nickel) and B (RoHS-compliant black nickel). Every configuration is a QPL item, so the same dash number is supplied identically by all qualified sources.