Military Spec Packaging

Case Studies from Protective Packaging

DEFENSE

The US Military, as well as many defense contractors have come to PPC with a problem. How do we preserve the nation’s defense materials in conditions across the world?  We have packaged jet fighters for international shipment, and military vehicles for dometic storage between deployments. (The case studies below exemplify some of our larger projects.)  We also supply military spec packaging materials such as mil-prf-131 in bags, tubes, sheets and rolls.  We produce hundreds of thousands of bags each year for custom orders.   Case Studies Outlined:

Antenna Telescope Array Army Unit Vehicles Deep Sea Radar F35 Joint Strike Fighter JDAM Weapons System Shoulder Fire Weapon

ALMA VERY LARGE ANTENNA TELESCOPE ARRAY

Protective Packaging Corporation has been called on many times to handle diverse but demanding assignments where there isn't much time for a learning curve, and the job must absolutely be done right the first time.

General Dynamics of Kilgore, Texas charged Protective Packaging with the challenge of packaging and transporting a very large antenna, nicknamed "The Blob", that was to become the first unit in the "Atacama Large Millimeter Array," or ALMA. Protective Packaging was to design and install packaging for the 161,000 lbs unit that would provide protection against moisture and corrosion during transport over the road from Kilgore to Houston, over the water from Houston to Santiago, Chile and over the road again from Santiago to the foothills of the Andes Mountains.

We performed our protective packaging work at the General Dynamics manufacturing facility in Kilgore, Texas. Protective Packaging first installed a fully enveloping moisture barrier bag of a material we call PROPAK 7000 and then covered the device with a reinforced tarp material called Armorlon AT-200. Finally, the protected assembly was placed upon a substantial steel "lifting frame" by the manufacturer's rigging dept. We are completely confident (as in a 100% guarantee) the wrapping process will ensure corrosion-proof arrival at the site.

U.S. ARMY UNIT VEHICLES AND TRAILER FLEET

A U.S. Army unit was deployed overseas. They had 23 five ton vehicles, and 10 trailers assigned to their unit that were not sent with the unit. Therefore, these very expensive vehicles would be left practically unattended for up to two years with very little preventive maintenance, and there was no covered area to place this equipment.

Each vehicle of the fleet needed a strong barrier from the adverse elements that would last an extended period of time. The protective barrier must also be able to protect against moisture leakage caused by snow and rain. Corrosion Prevention was also a major priority due to the long period of time the vehicles would be out of commission and their strategic importance.

Each vehicle was sealed completely inside moisture barrier bags. Desiccant was placed inside the bag to remove any moisture in order to prevent corrosion or mildew. Then, a heavy duty, reinforced, custom made tarp was placed over the barrier bag to give added protection against snow and high winds up to 80 mph. This protection was guaranteed for up to two years. Our onsite team completed the job within 4 days at a cost of approximately $1200 per vehicle.

Deep Sea Radar

A defense contractor needed to preserve a radar component while it was being transported along the eastern seaboard.   The unit had to be protected from electrostatic discharge as well as a minimal amount of shock.  First we covered the unit with an ESD barrier material to provide the needed static protection. Next we wrapped the unit in foam padding to provide shock absorption. Lastly, we applied shrink wrap to hold the protective layers in place and protect the unit from debris during transport.

F35 Joint Strike Fighter

Recently Protective Packaging was asked to protect Lockheed Martin's new F35 Joint Strike Fighter for a shipment, first by truck to the Houston port, then by boat across the Atlantic to England. Since every imaginable harmful possibility comes to mind in such a trip, PPC had to prepare for the worst.

Three different layers of protective materials were heat sealed, stitched, and shrunk to protect the jet. Desiccants and VCI emitters were added to remove absorb any additional moisture and provide a chemical rust protective coating for the extra insurance a multi-million dollar machine requires. The fighter made it safe and sound to its final destination and PPC has partnered up with Lockheed Martin for many more shipments of the newly designed fighter plane.

JDAM PRECISION GUIDED WEAPONS SYSTEM

 Protective Packaging provides stringent MIL-SPEC packaging solution to major defense contractor for the preservation of moisture, heat and static sensitive JDAM weapons system

Protective Packaging was contacted by a major defense contractor in March of 1997. The contractor shared that they had a new weapon system that consisted of a WWII and Vietnam era "dumb bomb" married with a modern GPS guidance system to achieve surgical precision accuracy in its delivery.

The challenge came when they shared that they must provide a 20 year warranty against any damage caused by corrosion or ESD (electrostatic discharge) and asked if Protective Packaging had any ideas. They had already contacted several other flexible packaging companies, but were told they needed to provide drawings and specifications before any type of quotation could be issued. Within 48 hours of being contacted, Protective Packaging President, Steve Hanna and Vice President Jim Hiller were at their facility in St. Louis working on a solution. After a 3 hour discovery meeting, Protective Packaging returned to Dallas and began aggregating materials that would deliver a package that:

was moisture proof was vapor proof

was heat sealable had a conductive interior had MVTR of .002 or less was durable was dull not shiny was able to hold an indefinite vacuum

Two weeks later, Protective Packaging returned to St. Louis with 3 different materials that would meet or exceed the outlined requirements. By the end of the meeting, a decision had been reached as to the material to be utilized.

After several more visits and severe testing, which included thermal, vibration, altitude, loose cargo and drop tests, the material was approved and a quotation for the original requirement of 1,500 barrier bags was issued.

U.S. MARINE SHOULDER FIRE WEAPON

The U.S. Marines needed a flexible carrying case for a shoulder fired weapon system. The case needed to be lightweight, extremely durable and have a moisture barrier quality to it to protect the system from water as well as diesel and gasoline.

Because of the physical actions of the U.S. Marines, it was very important that the bag be extremely durable yet light. It was also critical that wet weather and damp conditions did not compromise the feasibility of the weapons system.

A canvas bag was designed with a foil barrier material sewn to the inside of the two materials. This gave the bag the required moisture barrier qualities while maintaining the olive drab appearance and the carrying straps that needed to be attached to the bag.

About Protective Packaging Corporation Protective Packaging provides military packaging, export packaging, corrosion protection, moisture barrier bags and a variety of other protective packaging solutions.

Visit us at http://www.protectivepackaging.net/ to browse our corrosion prevention and military spec packaging material.