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Apply Composites Technology in the Development
of Tactical Shelters & Ground Based Radomes

Period of Performance:  September 2001 - September 2002

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Principal Investigator: Thomas Whitney
University of Dayton Research Institute
300 College Park
Dayton, OH 45469-0110
Phone: 937-229-3010
Email: whitney@udri.udayton.edu


Nearly all Tactical Shelters and Ground Based Radomes have been deployed well beyond their intended service life.  Consequently, system effectiveness has dropped with age and sustainment costs continually rise.  The availability, cost, and continued effectiveness of shelters/radomes will become a critical issue in the Air Force being able to meet mission requirements if timely action is not taken.  This impact will be both in terms of cost to repair current shelter/radomes and in system readiness because of failures of the shelters and radomes to meet system requirements.

A second and important issue is that the existing maintenance/repair procedures continue to result in significant environmental impacts (e.g., hazardous material usage, air emissions, and waste disposal).  The cost associated with these environmental issues continues to rise and environmental concerns sre starting to drive deployment location.

This Delivery Order, entitled was funded as a Pollution Prevention (P2) Program, with Air Force Program Management being provivded by the OO-ALC Directorate of Environmental Management in close coordination with the Space and C3I Directorate.  The objective was to determine the effectiveness of current composites technologies in the manufacture and sustainment of Air Force tactical shelter and ground-based radome structural components, thereby eliminating (or significantly reducing) the need for hazardous materials.  UDRI provided composites engineering and manufacturing expertise to asses the feasibility of composite materials for shelters and ground-based radome applications.

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This website is maintained by: Gloria Hardy
Last Update: July 25, 2003