WARWICK MILLS INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N204-A03

Description

This proposal addresses the solicitation Topic N204-A03; Deployable Systems Manufacturability, Focus Area 2; Inflatable array structures and materials manufacturing.  Warwick proposes to build an inflatable prototype that will provide a geometrically accurate structure that can precisely hold the location of a sensor array, and define the manufacturing methods and technologies necessary to do so.  This objective is in keeping with the Current and Future Readiness Capabilities of the Navy Modernization Priorities, enabling new technology in advance hardware deployment and monitoring. Inflatables provide a significant opportunity for delivery of advanced deployable systems, offering the strategic advantages of low stowage, low mass, and low profile for stealth to defeat adversaries.  Warwick Mills is a federal contractor with decades of experience in designing and manufacturing advanced inflatables that are complex, durable and lightweight. We have the know-how to create novel inflatable configurations to meet the missions of the Navy, adapting for high and low pressures, complex geometric shapes, high load capacity, and repeatable manufacturing processes to facilitate large volume production.  To build the prototype, which will be demonstrated in this Phase I effort, Warwick will partner with Naval Undersea Warfare Center’s (NUWC) Test & Evaluation Department to model for design improvements and mission needs by examining the shapes, hardgoods to softgoods interface, inflatable structure’s pressure and deflection behavior  under various load conditions.