Durable, Extended-Life Radar Absorbing Material (RAM) Environmental Protection Layer - MSC P4698

The Department of the Navy (DON) has issued a broad agency announcement as part of the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program soliciting proposals for the development of materials and/or processes addressing existing deficiencies related to lifespan and performance of radar absorbing materials (RAM) for the DDG-1000 class surface warship.  Targeted RAM tile applications are intended to reduce ship susceptibility to radio frequency (RF) threats and enable unique DDG-1000 mission sets but existing materials are showing premature, in-service failures and delamination typically concentrated around the thin, outer-most “Environmental Layer” of the multilayered tile.  This Environmental Layer (EL) is intended to maximize RF transmission into the underlying absorbing materials while also providing those materials with abrasion, moisture ingress, chemical, and flame resistance and protection.  Its recurring failure poses a major survivability risk to the DDG-1000 mission. In addition, there is an urgent need to build a domestic manufacturing base that facilitates expanded production capacity and accessibility to proven, customizable material solutions that have potential multi-agency / multi-platform application.  An exponential increase in production scale and efficiency will be required to accelerate dielectric material access for future ships and craft programs in the event of emergency mobilization. Access to these materials will be critical both in meeting increasingly stringent signature and susceptibility requirements while also reducing attrition risk of in-service signature-capable platforms over the duration of a potentially prolonged, future near-peer conflict.             The approach identified by Materials Sciences LLC (MSC) focuses on the industrialization of a proven Government Off the Shelf (GOTS) polyurethane (PU) based “Protective Coating” (PC) material system that is currently being implemented on Navy platforms. This manufacturing scale-up will leverage polyurethane processing equipment currently residing at MSC’s production facility in Greenville, SC in order to produce customizable variations of the GOTS material in sheet/roll-stock material forms versus the low-rate casting and spray-up methods currently used to date.  These alternative material forms will enable a direct substitution for the DDG-1000 EL application with a serviceable, proven maritime alternative.  It should be noted that while the base-formulation and overarching material approach have been Government-Developed, MSC is proposing to leverage that approach while modifying and optimizing the formulation to facilitate high-rate production while also meeting the DDG-1000 requirements established in the solicitation.