Many types of military equipment include rubber components for creating seals, reducing vibration, adding a protective grip to surfaces, managing fluids, and other critical-to-function applications. Rubber materials weather and wear well in harsh conditions and resist degradation and failure when exposed to chemicals and temperature changes.
Rubber components used in military, aerospace, and government applications must often comply with certain military specifications, also called MilSpec standards. Depending on the application, these standards may designate types of rubber, physical properties, flame or chemical resistance levels, and overall compatibility with other materials in an assembly. The goal of these standards is to manufacture components that maintain optimal performance in many environments, resisting wear and damage from stress that could otherwise negatively impact the material’s integrity during operations.
Here, we’ll take a more detailed look at what goes into selecting rubber materials and manufacturing custom-molded rubber parts for these critical applications.
Durability and Performance in Harsh Environments
MilSpec and other standards used in aerospace and defense manufacturing exist to protect equipment and the people who use it. Rubber components fall under these standards and may need to comply with guidelines such as:
- Meeting the AS9100 standard for quality management systems in defense and aerospace applications.
- Achieving extremely tight tolerances in production.
- The ability to maintain proper performance in conditions like extreme temperatures and fluctuations, chemical exposure, UV radiation, exposure to dissimilar materials, vibrations, and high pressures.
- High strength-to-weight ratio for increased efficiency and lower fuel costs.
- Ongoing documentation to improve production efficiency and quality.
Testing and Certification Requirements for Defense and Aerospace Applications
RD Rubber Technology Corporation works within required testing and standards for parts, assemblies, and equipment manufacturing for military, government, and aerospace projects. As a trusted manufacturer of engineered-quality custom molded rubber components, our qualifications, compliances, and registrations include the following, which are standard expectations of defense suppliers:
AS9100
Organizations involved in designing, manufacturing, or developing defense, aviation, and space products and components must follow AS9100 standards. The International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) initially developed and adopted this standard in 1999 and has revised it multiple times through 2016. It is a global standard for aerospace quality management systems with regard to engineering, design, and manufacturing. It incorporates aspects of previous Military standards, ISO 9001, and quality documentation developed within some major U.S. aircraft corporations. Revisions have been made to more closely align it with ISO 9001 revisions, to require that suppliers show proof their quality practices are effective, to add product safety standards, and to prevent counterfeit parts.
ITAR
International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) is a set of requirements designed to protect national security. It applies to the sale, manufacture, and distribution of defense and space-related services and materials on the U.S. Munitions List (USML). As an ITAR-registered company, RD Rubber is permitted to provide injection, transfer, and compression molding for products like grommets, O-rings, seals, and gaskets used in defense applications.
NIST 800-171 Compliance
This regulation requires organizations to secure Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) using special cybersecurity protocols. Compliance with this regulation allows organizations to engage in business with the Department of Defense (DoD).
DoD Registration
RD Rubber is certified with the DoD’s Joint Certification Program (JCP). This designation allows certified North American contractors to receive technical data that the DoD governs within the US. This means we are able to provide quotes on DoD programs with a Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) rating. You can read more about this particular program in our complete press release here.
RD Rubber’s Custom Rubber Solutions for Military and Aerospace Applications
RD Rubber provides high-quality, custom-molded rubber solutions for defense and aerospace applications. We are an experienced, certified supplier of materials, engineering support, and manufacturing services for defense and aerospace rubber components.
We provide comprehensive molding capabilities, including injection, transfer, and insert molding, rubber-to-metal bonding, overmolding, machining, and cryogenic deflashing. We also maintain a Certified ISO 14644 Class 8 cleanroom for cleanroom molding products.
RD Rubber works with a large variety of high-performance materials, including:
- Viton® rubber
- Ethylene-propylene diene monomer (EPDm) rubber
- Nitrile rubber
- Fluoroelastomer (FKM) rubber
- Fluorosilicone rubber
Our team is committed to providing excellent customer service and support for all our customers. In order to best serve our defence and aerospace industry customers to the greatest extent possible, we maintain and comply with:
- AS 9100:2016 certification
- DoD registration
- ISO 9001:2015 certification
- GMP standards
- NIST 800-171 compliance
- ITAR registration
- MIL-I-45208A
- ANSI Z540-1 for calibration and testing
- ISO 10012-1 and ISO 3601-3 certification
Contact us today to learn more about our capabilities and services for defense and aerospace applications, or request a quote for your next custom project.