Aerospace, Defense, & Space
Silicone Solutions for Aerospace and Defense
Aerospace and defense systems operate where failure is not an option and repair is rarely possible: at altitude, in orbit, and in the field. Materials have to perform through extreme temperature swings, vacuum, vibration, and years of service without maintenance. Silicones are known for their unique surface behavior. Their chemistry naturally promotes excellent wetting, spreading, and surface coverage, allowing them to protect, insulate, seal, and encapsulate more effectively than many conventional materials.
Novagard designs and manufactures silicone sealants, coatings, lubricants, and foams in the USA for high performance applications across demanding and fast evolving markets. We are a CMMC Level 2 & DD2345 certified defense subcontractor with products meeting military and aerospace specifications, and our R&D team can develop and qualify custom formulations for mission specific requirements. Silicone is often selected because it provides a unique combination of properties that few other material platforms can achieve simultaneously.
Silicones reliably seal, bond, coat, pot, lubricate, and insulate to protect aerospace and defense systems, such as:
- Avionics and flight electronics
- Unmanned aircraft and drone electronics
- High-Voltage insulation
- Satellites and space systems
- Defense electronics and communications equipment
- Sensor encapsulation
- Actuators, bearings, and control linkages
- Ground support and field equipment
- Sensor systems and detector elements
- Power and thermal management components
Why Silicone for Space?
- Extreme temperature tolerance: Stays flexible in heat and cold where other polymers crack or fail.
- Environmental durability: Resists UV, ozone, moisture, oxidation, and thermal cycling over the long haul.
- Electronics protection: Excellent dielectric properties shield sensitive components from moisture, contamination, and shock.
- Lightweighting: Replaces heavier mechanical parts while handling sealing, gasketing, and thermal management in one material.
- Reliable surface performance: Wets and coats complex assemblies evenly, with high-purity formulations that minimize migrating species for long-term reliability.
Applications Across Aerospace and Defense
Aircraft and Avionics
Conformal Coating: UV Cure 800-505FC/520FC & moisture cure 500-210, UL 746E certified, protects avionics boards from moisture, vibration, and thermal cycling with a non corrosive alkoxy cure that is safe for sensitive electronics.
Bonding Dissimilar Materials: Silicone adhesives bond materials with dissimilar coefficients of thermal expansion, relieving stress across the temperature swings an airframe sees in a single flight.
Drones and Unmanned Systems
Lightweight Electronics Protection: Low viscosity encapsulants such as 800-610 flow around dense flight electronics and cure in seconds under UV light, adding protection without adding process time or unnecessary weight.
Staking and Vibration Damping: 800-750 stakes components and damps vibration on flight controllers and sensor payloads, curing to a soft elastomer that relieves stress on delicate circuits.
Space and Satellites
Low Outgassing Materials: 600-251 is ASTM E595 certified potting/encapsulant for electronic production for space application. Total mass loss and collected volatile condensable materials, the standard used to qualify materials for the vacuum of space, where even minimal outgassing can condense on sensitive optics and electronics.
Vacuum and Cryogenic Lubrication: Versilube G321 operates from -99°F to 399°F and G351 is oxidation and radiation resistant and meets MIL-PRF-15719B. Both are suited to vacuum service.
Custom Formulation: Novagard is in the development stage of a full line of high purity controlled volatility products that include UV cure, addition cure and low viscosity RTV cure silicones.
Novagard develops and qualifies custom silicone formulations for space programs with mission specific thermal, outgassing, and dielectric requirements.
Defense and Military Systems
Specification Compliant Materials: G624 meets SAE AMS-8660 for superior dielectric strength, G321 meets CID A-A-59173 Type II, and 200-202 is a mil spec conformal coating for intricate electrical and mechanical devices.
Supply Chain Assurance: Novagard is a CMMC Level 2 & DD2345 certified defense subcontractor and manufactures entirely in Cleveland, Ohio, giving defense programs a fully domestic silicone supply chain.
Corrosion Protection and Field Equipment
Galvanic Corrosion Inhibition: G697 meets MIL-DTL-21567B and contains inhibitors that fight galvanic corrosion at dissimilar metal joints.
Field Serviceable Protection: G322L and G326 provide outstanding corrosion protection on connectors and hardware exposed to weather and washdown.
Thermal Management
Heat Dissipation: Thermally conductive compounds G641 and G644 move heat away from power electronics, semiconductors, and high density assemblies, operating from -40°F to 401°F.
Novagard offers TIM 2 products that maintain the dielectric values of silicone with the added compatibility of conductive fillers. Novagard not only targets high conductivity but also solves processing, filler stability and chemical compatibility that are required for evolving TIM applications.
