Porcher Industries and Meggitt to unveil latest Thermoplastic 5G Radome technology

Porcher Industries, a leader in technical textiles and thermoplastic composite solutions with a global platform delivering unique chemistries, technologies and innovations is proud to have supported Meggitt, a leading international company specializing in high performance components and sub-­‐‑systems for the aerospace, defense and energy markets, with the development of a new SATCOM radome. The new SATCOM radome will support the demand for enhanced 5G communication for in-flight connectivity.

Meggit challenged Porcher Industries to develop a composite material solution that would deliver high impact resistance and efficient processing whilst also providing the ability to tune the Dielectric Constant (Dk) for optimizing 5G Air-­‐‑to-­‐‑Ground transmission. Porcher Industries with its core competencies and technical knowledge in glass fibers, bonding chemistries, and manufacturing processes, developed a bespoke glass reinforced thermoplastic material for the base structural component.

The key performance targets for the composite material radome were low permittivity and low loss tangent at GHz frequencies whilst also satisfying cost reduction and processing requirements. Porcher Industries' BGF Industries site in Greensboro, NC, supplied a highly innovative glass reinforced thermoplastic composite that provided Meggitt with additional benefits in manufacturing and end of life recycling.

Meggitt’s expertise with the design and manufacturing of radomes, coupled with Porcher Industries’ market leading material development, have once again pushed technology forward and have produced a remarkable new one-­‐piece Radome Assembly for “big data” inflight 5G communications.