Enhanced Spinel Domes

The common missile is being developed for operation from a wide range of air, sea and ground platforms. Predicted production costs are driving much of the development direction at this time and spinel is the only durable, dual-band, electro-optical dome material capable of meeting these cost goals. Production approaches are therefore being pursued to establish a robust, low-cost fabrication technology to deliver spinel domes with excellent optical properties that require minimal finishing. This will be achieved by pressureless sintering near net-shape green spinel domes and careful ceramic processing. This proposal outlines the key technical hurdles to the success of this technology clearly identifying an approach to achieve technical readiness.