SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Adversarial threats to Air Force operations at forward bases can deny U.S. power projection, overwhelm traditional defense designs, impose prohibitive losses and lead to joint mission failure. To address these challenges, Agile Combat Employment (ACE) shifts operations from centralized physical infrastructures to a network of smaller, more flexible, and dispersed locations or cluster bases. Fifth generation fighter aircraft need a hangar enclosure to repair mission-critical low observable (LO) coatings and perform other necessary maintenance. An enclosure that fits the ACE mission must be quickly and easily deployed while minimizing logistical requirements. Kennon proposes leveraging existing knowledge of advanced inflatable devices to develop an inflatable hangar that can be easily deployed from a standard military pallet system (463l pallet). Inflatable paint booths exist in the commercial market, but there is nothing that meets the size, weight, portability, and robustness required by the USAF. The closest available inflatable hangars require several days to set up. Kennon will utilize ultra-strong ultra-lightweight materials, patented fabric welding techniques, and tension structure design to develop a rigid yet lightweight structure that allows USAF personnel the flexibility to quickly assemble, disassemble, and/or move the structure that allows maintainers to perform the work necessary to ensure mission readiness.
