Define/Demonstrate Beryllium (Be) Substitute Material for Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Applications

Developing affordable, light weight, high stiffness structures is extremely important for the department of Defense in the current climate of reduced defense spending. Increased stiffness airframe structures are required for the next generation of missiles to enable the missile to withstand higher G?s without adverse affects. Potential solutions include increasing the airframe mass using current materials (a losing proposition), developing a composite airframe (basically graphite-polymer composite), or developing higher stiffness light alloys. Many components (Housings, covers, casings) on the EKV program designs are currently Be based, and are lightly loaded structures requiring only minimal thermal conductivity. SOME OF THE LIGHTLY LOADED COMPONENTS MADE OF BE are considered to be TOO HEAVY. The most weight effective and cost effective solution is to develop ligher weight composites to fulfill many of the lightly loaded structures (enclosures, etc..) currently being used on the EKV program and replace Be. APS has qassembled a knowledgable team to address this requirement.