Low-Cost EMI-Shielded Composite Shelter

The U.S. Air Force has a need to deploy fixed site composite shelters (FSCS) in remote locations to house highly sensitive electronics and communication equipment. Lightweight composite shelters can offer significant benefit due to ease of installation and minimal maintenance. The current composite shelters being deployed have several drawbacks including high cost, inefficient fabrication processes and lack of built-in EMI-shielding capability. WebCore Technologies, Inc., proposes a Phase II SBIR Program with two objectives: 1) Design, develop, manufacture and fully qualify an EMI-shielded FSCS design and 2) Establish technology and business partnerships to bring EMI-shielded TYCOR panel technology to market. WebCore will incorporate the most cost-effective EMI-shielding solutions identified in our Phase I effort for use in the FSCS class of shelters and develop the manufacturing and assembly processes to support their affordable construction. WebCore has already constructed a non-EMI-shielded version of the FSCS and that experience will be critical to the proposed Phase II effort. WebCore will demonstrate that the EMI-shielded FSCS developed under this program meets all the qualification standards for EMI-shielding, structural, transportation and environmental performance. WebCore will work closely with shelter-manufacturing firms, leveraging their manufacturing expertise and produce an EMI-shielded FSCS with improved commercialization potential.