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Project Announcement: Vehicle Protection Coatings

The US Department of Defense is partnering with industry and academia on an initiative to enhance the safety and security of military vehicles by eliminating their high reflection signals from the windshield surface.

High reflection is a significant safety and security issue for armored vehicles during critical missions. A flash of high reflection from the sun onto the transparent armor surface of a military vehicle or a convoy of vehicles would give away the exact location of the vehicle to an enemy nearby. An enemy from a distant location can also detect the approach of an armored vehicle from reflections.

This initiative intends to develop a durable, transparent AR coating to reduce the surface reflection. The AR coating should have a wide-band anti-reflective curve from 450 nm to 750 nm with a low total reflection; for example, the total reflectance should be comparable to CARC paints on the vehicle, neutral colors with a* and b* between -1 and 1, low haze with ≤ 0.5%, and a homogeneous color distribution across the windshield area with a ∆E ≤ 1. The AR coating will have an adhesion of 5 on the windshield glass surface and should pass all mechanical performances tests for the windshield surface.

Specific goals include:

  • Designing an AR coating suitable for windshields using TF-Calc software
  • Developing the AR coating formulations, including a single layer AR coating, a multi-layer AR coating and/or porous/nanostructured AR coatings, by sol-gel method (spray, dipping, or slot-die coating), or PVD process
  • Evaluating the optical and mechanical performances of AR coatings, including lab evaluation and field evaluation at NATC

If you feel your organization has the technical capabilities and would like to be considered for this project, please complete the form below and upload your organization’s technical capabilities statement.

Interested Submissions Due by 8/15/2023.

We encourage participation of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs), including Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) and Women’s Business Enterprises (WBEs).