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# 6: Energy Dissipating Materiel for Cargo Airdrop
General
Description of Need: For decades the Services have used Paper Honeycomb material to dissipate energy for cargo airdrop operations. Paper Honeycomb energy dissipator pads are costly, bulky and not as effective when the load impacts the ground at an angle, resulting in the velocity vector no longer being perpendicular to the outer surface of the Paper Honeycomb pads.
Project Mission Statement:
Design an alternative to the present Paper Honeycomb material for use in rigging cargo airdrop loads.
Desired Performance Goals:
The material shall provide equal or greater energy dissipation at the same or lower cost, with less bulk when shipped, as the current Paper Honeycomb material. The performance and acceptance requirements for the current Paper Honeycomb Energy Dissipator Pads used to cushion airdropped loads are listed in the MIL-PRF-9884F Performance Specification. Paper Honeycomb pads are produced in sheets that are 96-inches long, 36-inches wide, and 3-inches thick. The sheets are then cut and stacked, as required, to cushion the airdrop load. The material crushes at an essentially constant dynamic crushing stress of 6300 pounds-per-square-foot (PSF) plus or minus 900 PSF to 70 percent minimum strain, and its stress-strain curve is essentially rectangular. Therefore, Paper Honeycomb stacks are designed to crush no more than 70 percent of their initial height in order to prevent bottoming out and high ground-impact forces from occurring. A number of useful design formulas/techniques and examples are presented in MIL-HDBK-669 for determining the area/height of Paper Honeycomb energy dissipator needed under various impact conditions, specified deceleration force levels, etc.
Desired Cost Target: TBD
Specify Desired Power and/or Other Logistical Targets or
Constraints: For use in both cargo and equipment airdrop delivery as a replacement for the Paper Honeycomb. The material would be used to cushion cargo and equipment loads delivered via Low Velocity (LV) and High Velocity (HV) A-7A/A-21 Door Bundle, LV and HV A-22 Container Delivery System (CDS), Type V and Type VI Airdrop Platform, and Enhanced Container Delivery System (ECDS) platform.
Specify Dual-Use Goals: Military and civilian use in
GPS constrained or absent environments.
Specify a Possible Targeted Acquisition Program:
This could replace honeycomb as the materiel used in rigging of both cargo and equipment airdrop loads, and they would support a number of programs ranging from the lightest Low Cost Low Altitude systems (rigged weight 80-450lbs (T) with 30-1200 lbs (O); to Low Cost Airdrop System Hi-Velocity and Low-Velocity 2,000 lbs bundles; to Joint Precision Airdrop System capabilities up to 10,000 lbs as well as supporting equipment Heavy Airdrop missions.
Specify Who the Primary User Might Be for this Product: : Cargo airdrop Riggers from the various Services but primarily 92R in the Army.
Note : Mentors will be available to provide guidance on technical performance requirements and on military performance specifications.
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