New Diamond Super-Material Enhances Aircraft Survivability

As the U.S. military continues to seek out and develop technology that will enhance survivability of manned and unmanned military aircraft systems, a new, diamond-based coating offers an effective countermeasure to state-of-the-art directed energy weapons, including electromagnetic and high-energy laser weapons. Whether it's reconnaissance drones, air force jet fighters or spacecraft for the newly formed Space Force, every branch of the military is seeking out technological advancements that keep our soldiers and the systems they operate safe. Existing coatings, such as infrared antireflective and diamond-like-carbon, when applied to sensitive control systems and cockpit areas, are susceptible to deficiencies like delamination, degradation and fluctuating optical transmissivity.

This new “super-material,” however, is a product of advanced chemistry and comprised of two materials that have not been able to be demonstrated together, until now. Thanks to advancements and breakthroughs in chemistry, physics and manufacturing, we're now able to fabricate composite diamond coated with Fluorinated Graphene Oxide (FGO), a feat never before accomplished until now. This new super-material opens up a world of new capabilities across a number of industries, especially defense, where it can be applied to countermeasure weaponry, specifically optical sensing, detecting and transmission - which are all extremely crucial to our military's efforts.