Aerospace and Defense
Protection for Protectors
Complex, highly sensitive aerospace and defense electronics must perform flawlessly, every time, and often in extreme environments across land, air and sea. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is an unending device, systems performance and security issue. So too is degraded signal integrity, heat, vibration and shock.
You need answers early and access to advanced and reliable protective materials when designing aerospace and defense electronic systems.
For decades, Laird Performance Materials has delivered to the aerospace and defense industry a broad array of high-performance shielding materials. Laird™ grounding solutions. RF/microwave absorbers. Inductive components. Some of the industry's highest performing dielectric materials. And more advanced materials.
Review several device teardowns for detailed look at the performance materials enabling and protecting aerospace and defense electronics. Learn more about Laird’s capabilities and solutions, and uncover innovations for aerospace defense applications in these brochures:
Major defense contractors are Laird customers.
Aerospace
Custom solutions from Laird enhance survivability, reduce signal interference, improve thermal management, and help ensure long-term reliable performance of electronics on fifth-generation fighter jets, missile systems, UAVs, refueling tankers, satellites, and more. For example:
Laird uses its materials database, advanced modeling and simulation, and particle research capabilities to develop materials that perform reliably across a wide range of frequencies – from low frequencies under 500 MHz to the standard communications band to frequencies in the 1-35GHz range, and to millimeter wave frequencies up to 90 GHz.
Our line of fluorosilicone elastomers, thermal insulators and microwave absorbers can withstand extremely high temperatures, and exposure to jet and missile fuel. These products help design engineers combat electromagnetic interference and improve the reliability of critical survivability components and electronics housed near jet engines.
We serve the multifaceted needs of engineers working on electronics systems on satellites. New silicone and silicone-free thermal interface materials resist outgassing. Our precision metals solutions help engineers manage electromagnetic interference and improve device structural integrity within enclosures.
Using robust mechanical design capabilities, Laird designs custom electrically conductive elastomers which perform key structural and electromagnetic interference mitigation roles aboard aircraft of all types.
Our rigorous measurement, testing, modeling, and simulation capabilities help enable innovations in responding to the evolving needs of design engineers developing next-gen aircraft.
Defense Communications
Enhance communications in challenging environments ranging from desert battlefields to rough seas. Laird solutions improve the performance and reliability of communication technologies, including vehicle-to-vehicle, command-and-control, battlefield surveillance, and ground troop communications.
Communications systems can be subjected to extreme shock and vibration. We put precision metals solutions (from board-level shields to component housings) through rigorous testing to ensure reliable performance in the most rugged environments.Further, as heat loads increase within electronics enclosures, design engineers need heat-dissipating solutions enabling greater levels of thermal conductivity. Our thermal interface material innovations improve heat transfer and aid the reliable performance of military communications systems.
From microwave absorbers that operate with precision across a wide range of frequencies to thermal interface materials that transfer heat within communications equipment to fabric-based solutions that camouflage soldiers and equipment from infrared and radar threats, Laird creates novel materials that protect and enhance communications amid the harsh conditions of the battlefield – in the air, on land or on sea.
Electronic Countermeasures
Deploy Laird solutions to minimize signal interference from broadband and high-powered radar jammers and isolate antennas in sensitive direction-finding systems.
For example, antenna-to-antenna interference can present significant challenges. Wherever broadband electronic warfare equipment operates near communications or radar systems, system performance can degrade severely. The addition of absorber barriers between conflicting systems can solve these problems. We design absorber housings to surround the antenna, which minimize antenna sidelobes and enhances equipment performance.
Additionally, as electronic warfare technologies become more sophisticated, the power density within chip packages grows, creating significant thermal management issues alongside electromagnetic interference challenges. Our advanced thermal interface materials resist outgassing as well as the thermal material pump out and delamination that can result from continuous and often intense heating and cooling cycles. Additionally, Laird multi-function solutions allow design engineers to address both EMI and thermal management issues and save space within high-powered chip packages.
Laird precision metals play key EMI shielding and structural roles in electronics enclosures. Proprietary analysis tools enable our engineers to analyze formability, force, stress and displacement of precision metals. Using these analyses, our team develops custom engineered solutions for aerospace and defense applications.
Our wide range of absorbers, gaskets and other EMI materials, thermal management solutions and precision metals help design engineers improve the reliability and performance of powerful electronics systems.
Naval
Corrosion-resistant EMI, thermal and structural products serve the complex needs of design engineers working on electronics aboard everything from surface ships to submarines to UAVs. For example:
Laird uses corrosion-resistant alloys and particle coatings to develop microwave absorbers that perform reliably on naval ships amid harsh conditions at sea.
Our enhancements in electrically conductive elastomers eliminate the risk of galvanic corrosion. Laird can manufacture elastomers - or engage with you in comolding - using highly resilient fluorosilicone and either nickel aluminum or passivated silver aluminum fillers, offering reliable mechanical, environmental, and electromagnetic shielding capabilities.
Using spray-on coatings, fabric coatings, or rigid closed-cell foam injections, Laird’s custom protective solutions allow design engineers to use foam absorbers in naval applications (e.g., shielding the outside of a ship from radar detection). These protective coatings block moisture and prevent flaking, resulting in a long-lasting, reliable foam absorber.
Our rigorous measurement, testing, modeling and simulation capabilities help ensure innovation in responding to the evolving needs of design engineers working on naval device or system applications.
