HybridSil® Advanced, Heat Tolerant Towlines for Aircraft Towed Decoys

Currently, towlines for towed aircraft decoys are experiencing catastrophic failures due to the extreme temperatures produced from the afterburners during high Angle of Attack (AOA) maneuvers. The hot exhaust produces temperatures (>650°C) that cause current reinforcing members to thermally-oxidize and degrade to the point of towline separation. Additionally, these high heats are leading to failure of the decoys’ electrical components as a result of the conducting wire’s insulation failure. During the Phase I NanoSonic was able to produce multiple prospect polymer derived ceramic coatings for towline components capable of withstanding temperatures exceeding 650°C. These HybridSil® PDC coatings included polyorganosiloxanes, polysilazanes, and a polysilazane-polyorganosiloxane combination that were filled with ceramic particles including yttrium stabilized zirconium, boron carbide, and boron nitride. For the Phase II, NanoSonic intends on furthering this research by down selecting a final coating. To complete this objective, NanoSonic will investigate adhesion and spray coating ability in relation to New England Wire Technologies’ (NEWT) downstream spray coating process. Furthermore, NanoSonic will demonstrate scale-up of HybridSil PDC, conduct shelf-life studies, optimize cable design with NEWT, and produce 4500 ft of prototype towline.