N102-132 TITLE: Heat Resistant Visual Landing Aid (VLA) Lighting Fixtures for Ship Flight Decks and Expeditionary Air Field (EAF) Matting

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA-251 Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment

RESTRICTION ON PERFORMANCE BY FOREIGN CITIZENS (i.e., those holding non-U.S. Passports): This topic is "ITAR Restricted." The information and materials provided pursuant to or resulting from this topic are restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120 - 130, which control the export of defense-related material and services, including the export of sensitive technical data. Foreign Citizens may perform work under an award resulting from this topic only if they hold the "Permanent Resident Card", or are designated as "Protected Individuals" as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). If a proposal for this topic contains participation by a foreign citizen who is not in one of the above two categories, the proposal will be rejected.

OBJECTIVE: Develop an innovative in-deck lighting fixture design that can withstand the increased heat loads expected from future aircraft.

DESCRIPTION: Visual Landing Aids (VLAs) on air capable ships, aircraft carrier flight decks and Expeditionary Airfield matting are required for night and/or low visibility aircraft operations for general lighting, navigation, flight deck, and special purposes. Future aircraft are expected to have hotter exhaust that could threaten the integrity of these lighting fixtures while recovering or taxiing. The Navy seeks an in-deck/Airfield Flush-Deck lighting fixture that can be subjected to aircraft exhaust nozzle indirect temperatures in the range of 600-700F for long dwell periods as well as near-direct temperatures in the range of 1500-1700F for relatively short durations. Current lighting fixtures have external surface materials such as 4130 steel, aluminum alloy, stainless steel, silicone rubber, a night vision device compatible lighting filter and a glass lens coated with Magnesium Fluoride.

The solution proposed will need to be conformal to the skin of the existing ships� structure and Expeditionary Air Field (EAF) AM2 matting, with a fixture design that is form, fit, function compatible with existing shipboard/airfield lighting configurations and be able to accept source light through fiber optic bundles, night vision device compatible lighting filter, LED, and incandescent lighting sources. The carrier environment is extremely challenging. Existing fixtures are capable of withstanding direct impact of aircraft tailhook and/or the tailhook "dragged" across the fixture during arrestment or bolter. The fixture should experience no more than aesthetic damage and should be fully functional after impact. Accumulated damage over time would be permissible but not be so severe as to cause a service issue. The fixture should be usable for a minimum of a 6-month deployment without parts replacement other than normal maintenance actions.

PHASE I: Provide a conceptual design and identify key technical issues. Prove the technical feasibility of the concept through by addressing those issues through analysis and/or limited lab demonstrations. Provide top level cost and reliability estimates.

PHASE II: Develop a prototype based on the design concept from Phase I. Provide a detailed test plan, finalize and conduct a scaled capabilities demonstration of the prototype. Address the potential for shipboard/EAF replacement as well as the ability to meet shipboard/EAF environmental requirements. Hone cost and reliability estimates.

PHASE III: Design and fabricate full-scale fixture(s). Provisions will be made to facilitate shipboard lighting testing of light fixtures and/or the EAF AM2 matting surface. Subsequent to system refinement and all first articles testing, selected components will be lab tested and shipboard/field demonstrated.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: This technology could benefit a wide range of applications where ruggedized heat resistant lighting applications are required. FAA (runways), Off Shore platforms, and industrial plants require similar lighting sources. Innovative applications would transfer to many other commercial applications.

REFERENCES:
1. Davis, J.R. (1997). ASM Specialty Handbook: Heat Resistant Materials, ASM International

2. Information on flight deck and EAF lighting will be posted on the SITIS website on or about 21 April 2010. www.dodsbir.net

KEYWORDS: Heat Resistant; Lighting Systems; Illumination; Visual Landing Aids; Ship Lighting; Airfield Lighting; LED

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

DoD Notice:   Between April 21 and May 19, 2010, you may talk directly with the Topic Authors to ask technical questions about the topics. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting May 19, 2010, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

However, proposers may still submit written questions about solicitation topics through the DoD's SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS), in which the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing until the solicitation closes. All proposers are advised to monitor SITIS (10.2 Q&A) during the solicitation period for questions and answers, and other significant information, relevant to the SBIR 10.2 topic under which they are proposing.

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