Key points of the article
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Silicones for aerospace and defense offer extreme performance, safety, and reliability in critical environments, thanks to superior thermal stability and environmental resistance.
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The Dow range includes adhesives, sealants, foams, coatings, gels, transparent materials, thermally conductive and electrically conductive materials, designed for every design requirement.
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They are used in strategic applications such as aircraft, drones, defense systems, avionics, satellites, and space modules, where performance and durability are essential requirements.
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Dow provides materials compliant with international regulations and military standards, with solutions tested to withstand impacts, vibrations, fire, mechanical stress, and outgassing.
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The new space frontiers require advanced materials: Dow develops ablative products, thermal gels, and green strength adhesives to support future missions and infrastructure protection.
In the aerospace, defense, and aviation sector, each application requires materials that ensure extreme performance, constant safety, and resistance to critical environments. Silicones for aerospace and defense represent one of the most versatile and reliable solutions to address these challenges, particularly Dow silicones, which stand out for their quality, durability, and ability to support innovation in the most complex application contexts.
Why Choose Silicones for the Aerospace and Defense Sector
Silicones are unique materials, naturally stable over a wide temperature range (-115°C / +260°C), resistant to ozone, moisture, and other environmental agents. Additionally, they have mechanical properties ideal for alleviating stress and vibrations:
- elastic modulus between 0.01 and 10 MPa
- Dimensional stability
- Ability to absorb shock and deformation.
Dow develops customized solutions for the aerospace and defense sector, addressing any challenge with chemical precision and performance. This expertise translates into a complete range of certified products, already used in critical missions and validated according to standards such as MIL-SPEC, UL, and ASTM E595.
Product family |
Features and benefits |
| Adhesives, sealants, and foams |
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| Coatings, gels, and encapsulants |
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| Liquid Silicone Rubbers (LSR) |
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| Optically clear materials |
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| Thermal interface and electrically conductive materials |
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Key Applications: Aerospace, Defense, and Aviation
Aircraft, Helicopters, and Drones
Proven solutions
Manned aircraft, helicopters, and drones require materials capable of ensuring environmental sealing, structural bonding, thermal management, and reliable EMI protection. Whether for fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft, fuel-powered or battery-powered, performance must be high and consistent, especially for the most critical electronic components. In addition to all this, there are the stringent safety standards required for the aviation sector.
To meet these needs, Dow offers multi-purpose fluorosilicone sealants and solvent-resistant, capable of ensuring reliable performance even in the most demanding conditions. The adhesives, foams, and sealants DOWSIL™ are used for both internal and external applications, as well as gaskets for compressors, gearboxes, and pumps. Solvent-resistant sealants are also ideal for assembly and maintenance of fuel systems and tanks.
These advanced silicones are also used in bonding substrates to heat sinks within power, transmission, and conversion modules, in securing integrated circuits, heat sinks, housings, base plates, and covers. DOWSIL™ thermal management solutions are increasingly used in battery systems of new generation electric aircraft.
Defense
Critical performance for every mission
Military and air, land, or naval missions pose some of the most extreme engineering challenges. Operating conditions can range from desert heat to arctic cold, to tropical humidity. In these contexts, materials must offer maximum reliability and consistent performance.
Thanks to their balance between stress reduction and environmental resistance, Dow silicones represent a proven solution. DOWSIL™ coatings, gels, and encapsulants absorb shocks and vibrations, while offering flame resistance. Many of these materials are tested to MIL-SPEC specifications and UL certified, ensuring compliance and quality for mission-critical applications.
Aviation, Displays, and Lighting
Visibility and reliability for flight safety
In aviation, visibility is a safety element. Pilots must monitor in real-time fuel levels, air traffic, flight instrumentation, and navigation systems. With increasing sky traffic, flight recorders and anti-collision devices also require increasingly reliable components.
From cockpit displays to onboard lights, every electronic element must withstand thermal fluctuations, humidity, and other environmental agents. DOWSIL™ optically clear materials ensure durability and consistent performance even in the most extreme conditions. In electronic modules and systems, Dow thermally conductive materials ensure efficient cooling, while electrically conductive ones offer high EMI shielding across a wide range of operating frequencies.
Spacecraft and Satellites
Materials designed for extreme vacuum
In space systems, every component must function perfectly in high vacuum environments, where even minimal gas emissions can compromise electronics, optics, and thermal dissipation. Dow space silicones are formulated to minimize outgassing, complying with NASA requirements and ASTM E595 standard.
DOWSIL™ encapsulants, available in fluid or thixotropic versions, protect modules, relays, power supplies, connectors, and entire electronic systems. Low CVCM formulations with high elongation ensure stress elimination and thermal and electrical stability even in extreme conditions.
New Frontiers
Continuous innovation for future challenges
With the evolution of space exploration – from asteroid mining to Mars missions – there’s a growing need for materials capable of protecting launch infrastructures. Rocket gases, at extreme temperatures, can cause ablation of concrete, steel, or refractory brick structures. For this reason, Dow has developed specific ablative materials to protect platforms and nozzles under conditions of intense thermal flow.
Alongside these solutions, Dow also offers thermally conductive gels for electronics encapsulation and green strength adhesives, ideal for bonding substrates with different coefficients of thermal expansion. Materials designed to support the most innovative modules today and in the future.
Conclusion
In the aerospace and defense sector, every detail matters. Dow silicone-based solutions, distributed by Mascherpa, are designed to ensure high performance, long durability, and safety in extreme conditions. Thanks to our technical expertise and constant application support, we accompany our customers at every stage, from material selection to design.
Contact our Mascherpa experts to receive support in choosing the most suitable silicone for your application.
