Development of ISO Composite Tactical Shelter

The U.S. Dept. of Defense (DoD) spends millions of dollars every year to repair and refurbish numerous metal shelters located around the world. The constant repair and refurbishment of these shelters put a huge cost burden and environmental clean-upresponsibility on DoD. The Air Force has launched an initiative to develop and field Composite Tactical Shelters (CTS) which offer improved durability, and reduced maintenance requirements with lower resultant environmental impact. This SBIR project isintended to develop, test and qualify an ISO composite tactical shelter (CTS). The Phase II project will build on Phase I activities in which the ability of TYCORT composite sandwich panels to meet key performance requirements for CTS was demonstrated andwill involve the fabrication of two complete ISO composite shelters, full qualification testing, and development of initial production processes. A key subcontractor, Thermoplastic Composite Design (TCD), will fabricate the CTS frame using a proprietarythermoplastic compression molding process to meet the demanding performance required for stackable ISO shelters. The composite ISO shelter will undergo extensive acceptance testing. Production process developments for the panels, the frame, and theshelter assembly will be refined and documented to allow technology transition for volume production.