SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Some of the Air Force’s greatest concerns are to provide the H-60 rotary platform with full protection against bird strikes with no increase in weight and thickness. INTER Materials is in a unique position to assist the Air Force with the development of a lighter weight concept that provides enhanced bird strike protection to the H-60 helicopter windscreens, is shatterproof and withstands air loads in all flight regimes by using proprietary TPU materials and integrating plasma coating technologies. INTER Materials prior developments on optical aliphatic TPU materials and plasma coating technologies demonstrate the potential to meet and exceed all abrasion/erosion resistance requirements to allow for cleaning and clearing the windscreen exteriors and the heating requirements to provide hundred percent defrosting, deicing and defogging. INTER Materials offers competitive advantages to commercialize the new windscreen design because INTER Materials already has: 1) facilities for scratch/abrasion resistant plasma coatings for aircraft windscreens; 2) experience with design and testing of windshields for transparent vehicle armoring; 3) ongoing working relationship with a well-established and world recognized manufacturer of transparencies and canopies for helicopters and military aircraft; and 4) access to the state-of-the-art testing facilities at the University of Dayton Research Institute for testing windscreens.
