ASDWire distribution date: Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:29:00 GMT +0100

Air Force awards TRI/Austin, Inc. funding for development of handheld radome inspection tool

Austin, Texas, September 18, 2007 --[ASDWire]-- After an aircraft radome is repaired, it is installed and tested for radar transparency at a Far Field Range (FFR) test facility. If it fails the test, the entire radome is rejected and must be repaired again. There is currently no simple small tool that can be used at a radome repair facility to determine if it has proper radar performance without sending it to the FFR.

With Phase I funding under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, TRI/Austin and the University of Missouri Rolla have built and tested a prototype handheld, low power microwave probe on a variety of flaws that cause radar performance problems, including thickness variations, moisture ingress, crushed core, delaminations and debonds. This system reliably detected anomalies throughout composite thickness from one side. Both simulated and actual retired radomes were tested. Other Phase I experiments show that correctly applied radome paints, as well as previous repairs that passed FFR testing, do not cause false positives.

The Air Force OC-ALC has awarded $750,000 in Phase II funding to TRI/Austin, Inc. to continue development of the probe. Phase II work under SBIR topic AF06-327, “Dielectric Measuring Tool for Radome Checkout”, includes further refinements of the prototype, ruggedization, field trials at radome repair facilities (both commercial and military) and a complete commercialization strategy. The Phase II system will provide quantitative radar performance data that can be used to determine if the radome will pass FFR testing.

This material is based upon work supported by the United States Air Force under Contract No FA8103-07-C-0193. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Air Force.

Radome repair facilities that would like to provide input regarding testing requirements or are interested in participating in field trials should contact Azucena Overman at TRI/Austin.

Additional information on the company is available at www.tri-austin.com or by phoning (512) 263-2101.

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