Shielded from the blast

Published Dec. 11, 2008
By Brandice J. Armstrong
72nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., -- Nuclear stewardship and reinvigorating the nuclear enterprise is a top Air Force priority. One Tinker unit knows it all too well, as their engineers are designing a product to protect Boeing B-52 Stratofortress air crews from a nuclear attack's blinding light.

Designed by the 540th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron's B-52 Communi-cations Navigation and Weapons Flight, prototypes for the "thermal curtains" will be ready this month. Final versions of the curtains are scheduled to be completed by October 2009. "The design is elegant in its simplicity," said Flight Chief William Plasters. "The new design is simple, quick to install, and can be removed easily to perform maintenance, or when not required."

Resembling automobile windshield sunshades, the thermal curtains are about 1/10-tenth inch thick and are 40 to 50 inches long, by 30 inches tall, depending on the size of its respective window. Each curtain is made up of three material layers -- a reflective layer, a stiffener and a rubberized vinyl cloth. When the B-52 is not releasing a nuclear bomb or in close proximity to a detonating nuclear bomb, the curtains are not needed and each curtain can be removed and stored in its storage bag. When packed, the bag could weigh up to 30 pounds.

A set is composed of seven shades and will cost about $2,500 per set.

"The nuclear mission is becoming more and more important and this is one of the things that completes the mission, while keeping an aircrew safe should [an aircrew] have to do a mission with nuclear weapons," said Matt Yost, structural engineer for the flight.

If there is no imminent danger, Mr. Yost said the curtains should only be used for training purposes, which occurs twice a year. But, aircrews and maintenance personnel are actually using the curtains daily in warm weather, as sunshades, causing the curtains to wear sooner than expected.

To prevent the new curtains from early deterioration, officials suggest air crews use fabric sunshades to keep the cockpit cool and only use the thermal curtains when necessary. Fabric sunshades cost less than $300 per set and a set covers 13 windows. Prototypes of these sunshades will be sent this month to the active squadrons for testing.

The current thermal curtains, which were designed in the early 1950s, are made up of two layers - a rubberized vinyl cloth and reflective material. There are five per aircraft. "The present design or configuration required ropes, pulleys, counterweights, and was prone to tangling and binding resulting in an almost-useless shade," Mr. Plasters said.