Big Top Fabric Structures has Proudly Served the Military for Many Decades

Fabric Structures

When the U.S. Military needs fabric structures, it turns to Big Top. We have enjoyed many years of successful partnerships with the military due to the unmatched strength, flexibility, and versatility of our temporary buildings. One way we stand apart from our competitors is the protection our fabric provides for equipment, materials, and personnel on American bases throughout the globe where our products are utilized.

Superior Protection From the Elements

Case in point: Our rip-resistant fabric is not only NFPA-701 flame-retardant, but it also blocks 99.95% of UV-A and UV-B radiation for a UPF rating of 2,000 and a conventional rating of 50 plus. This outstanding thermal performance helps to keep personnel safe from sun exposure, protect sensitive materials, and maximize the lifespan of the paint jobs and electronics of aircraft and other equipment.

Natural Climate Control

The UV-reflective fabric roof of our military structures also helps to maintain a comfortable interior temperature that is, on average, 15 degrees cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter than the temperature outside. This is particularly beneficial for when operations are located out in the field and artificial climate control is not an option.

Versatile Installations

Big Top’s fabric structures can be deployed to anywhere in the world and can be assembled quickly at a rate of 2,500 square feet per day. Our shelters can be anchored to virtually any type of foundation, even dirt, gravel, concrete, and asphalt. For added height, our fabric buildings can also anchor to stacks of ecology blocks or shipping containers.

Mobile Design

In the event that your fabric structure needs to be relocated, it can be easily disassembled and shipped to a new location, or it can be moved intact around your base with a crane. And, because our shelter systems are temporary, they will not use up the square footage of your base.

Fabric Structures for Military Applications

In our many years serving the U.S. Military, we have provided fabric buildings that have been used as:

  • Large area maintenance shelters (LAMS)
  • Hangars for aircraft and drones
  • Vehicle inspection shelters and guard shacks
  • Sunshades
  • Chow and mess halls
  • Warehouses and other storage facilities

At Big Top, we can customize a fabric shelter to meet the unique needs of your military operation. We can size our fabric structures to your exact specifications, up to 174 feet in width, 80 feet in height, and nearly any length. Additionally, we can include any number of accessories including personnel and bay doors, HVAC equipment, durable flooring, insulation, air-scrubbing systems, and even lightning protection, which will allow you to use the shelter as a muster station to protect your staff during inclement weather. If turbulent weather is a concern where your operations are located, we can engineer your fabric structure for heavy wind and snow loads.

Aviation Applications

Our fabric structures can function as hangars and sunshades to protect aircraft and the maintenance crews that work on them. Our hangars and sunshades can be anchored directly to the flight line to ensure mission readiness. Big Top is approved by USACE as being compliant with U.S. Air Force Sunshade Management (AFSM), Air Force Instruction (AFI), and IBC. All of our fabric structures are Berry Amendment compliant.

We’ve provided our fabric structures to military bases and battle operations all over the world. To learn more about how we can custom-build a shelter for your base, contact Big Top today.