Ballistic Exhaust Grille

New World Associates proposes to develop an exhaust grille for the Marine Corps EFV (Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle) that improves performance and maintains required ballistic protection. The issue with the current design for the EFV is that the exhaustgrille is a heavy system that does not allow flow control (IR signature suppression) with adequate ballistic protection. The modified design will evaluate several design options and will focus on the following primary design criteria: A) Obtain specified ballistic performance; B) Optimize airflow vs. pressure drop characteristics; C) Reduce vehicle infrared signature; D) Minimize weight and manufacturing costs. During Phase I of the proposed program, tasking will include research into available materials that optimize weight reduction and ballistic protection requirements. During this phase, several design concepts will be proposed and evaluated with respect to the EFV performance specification (EFV S/SS Specification Rev J. dated 10 August 2006). New World will utilize its extensive background of ballistic protection of vehicles and airflow design and analysis to solve the proposed problem.