Airless Wheel for Future Tactical and Combat Vehicles

"Breakthrough airless tire technology offers significant advantages to the mobility of vehicles currently dependent on the integrity of a pneumatic bladder to carry out their function. The application of non-traditional advanced composite filament andmatrix materials such as carbon, Kevlar, and Spectra to an airless wheel design allows for a light weight, high-mobility performance wheel that would not be subject to the same mission-jeopardizing effects of debris or small arms fire as a traditionaltire. In addition, derivative designs using these materials have the potential to be adaptable, providing an opportunity for enhanced mobility by mimicking the performance of a current central tire inflation system (CTIS). This proposal will show thatRod Millen Special Vehicles (RMSV), in conjunction with subject matter experts Sandia National Labs and Michelin, has the expertise, test equipment, and facilities to develop an airless wheel concept for current and future combat vehicles in a timely, costeffective manner. The potential market for an airless wheel meeting the necessary criteria would extend not only into existing and future DoD wheeled vehicles but also for more conventional commercial markets. Potential end uses of such a product would beany vehicle market environment where there is a significant chance of puncturing a pneumatic tire and any "costs" (i.e., downtime, high value of replacements, and logistical burden of transp