Lightweight Airfield Matting System
Expeditionary-grade strength for aircraft operations anywhere
Air support is critical to nearly every U.S. military or humanitarian mission worldwide, yet many of the places where aircraft are needed cannot wait for or physically support conventional concrete or asphalt construction. For more than 50 years, the workhorse solution of the U.S. military has been the AM2 aluminum matting system. However, its panels are 12 feet long and weigh nearly 150 pounds each — exceeding safe one-person lift limits, defying quick assembly, and overflowing standard 463L air pallets and enclosed ISO shipping containers — a serious logistics burden when speed matters most.
The Airfield Mat-Lightweight (AM-L) system reengineers expeditionary matting from the ground up. Modular aluminum panels measure 84 inches long, 21 inches wide, and just 1 inch thick, weigh under 50 pounds so a single person can carry and place them, and fit any ISO container and 463L pallet for rapid air and sea transport. Built from two simple extrusions joined by friction stir welding, the panels can be produced by multiple manufacturers. A patented connector system joins panels on all four edges — a hinge joint along the long sides and a locking-bar end connection that mechanically ties neighboring panels together — distributing aircraft loads across the assembled surface. The result is a 33% thinner and 40% lighter mat designed to support helicopters, tiltrotors, and fixed-wing aircraft across roughly 80% of the missions the heavier AM2 serves today. The system enables rapid construction or expansion of taxiways, helicopter pads, hangar floors, and parking surfaces for military expeditionary airfields, disaster-relief and humanitarian airheads, and remote off-grid sites where permanent infrastructure is impossible.
Benefits:
- One-person lift: Each panel weighs under 50 pounds, no mechanical assist needed
- Transport-ready: Fits standard 463L pallets and any ISO container
- Light and thin: 33% thinner and 40% lighter than legacy AM2 matting
- Rapidly deployable: Panels join on all four edges into stable surfaces
- Structurally strong: Interlocking connectors tie panels together for joint strength
- Resilient supply: Designed for production by multiple manufacturers
- Mission-versatile: Supports rotary-wing, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), and fixed-wing aircraft
Applications:
- Military expeditionary airfields
- Forward Arming and Refueling Points (FARPs)
- Helicopter landing pads
- VTOL operations
- Tiltrotor operations
- Fixed-wing parking
- Taxiways
- Maintenance pads
- Disaster relief
- Humanitarian airstrips
- Remote airstrips
- Hangar floors
Patents
- 18/896,915 (Copy & search patent)
- 18/896,918 (Copy & search patent)