As a result of acquisition reform initiatives, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of military systems were authorized to use performance-based specifications for component procurement.   The industry was suddenly faced with a dilema - to continue designing with tried and proven military grade components or accept the risk of using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components in a manner historically considered unacceptable.  Since then, there have been volumes of papers authored and presented on th etopic of using COTS ICs in traditional military environments.  In a number of applications, such as military ground based communications systems, the environment might be the same as seen in commercial applications.  In these cases COTS PEMs might be an acceptable choice.  They could be used as is with good results providing the obsolescence issues are addressed.  In other applications, such as missle systems, the use of COTS components often requires the OEM to operate the components outside the component manufacturer's datasheet specifications.