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Chemical Agent Resistant Coating is a system, not a color. Here is what the specification is really asking for, how the stack is built, and what to settle before parts ship.
CARC stands for Chemical Agent Resistant Coating. It is not a color and it is not a brand — it is a coating system whose defining property is that chemical warfare agents cannot soak into it, so contaminated equipment can be decontaminated instead of abandoned.
Ordinary paint is porous enough at the molecular level that a liquid agent will absorb into the film and continue to off-gas long after the surface has been washed. A CARC topcoat is formulated so the agent stays on the surface and can be removed with standard decontamination solution. That is the whole point of the system, and everything else — the low-gloss finish, the infrared reflectance, the durability — follows from military requirements layered on top of it.
Pretreatment, primer and topcoat are specified together. Applying a CARC topcoat over the wrong primer, or over no pretreatment at all, does not produce a compliant finish — it produces a finish that will fail its first inspection.
The flat appearance is a signature-reduction requirement, not an aesthetic choice. Gloss and infrared reflectance are measured properties on these specifications, which is part of why touch-up with commercial paint is not acceptable.
On defense work the certification package matters as much as the film. Batch traceability, the specific products applied, film thickness records and inspection results are what let your customer accept the part.
Per TT-C-490E — mechanical or abrasive cleaning, solvent, or alkaline, depending on the substrate and its condition.
On aluminium, typically chemical conversion coating per MIL-DTL-5541 (TCP), or a wash primer per MIL-C-8514 or DOD-P-15328.
Epoxy primers such as MIL-DTL-53022, MIL-DTL-53030 (water reducible), MIL-PRF-23377 or MIL-PRF-85582 — selected by substrate and by what the drawing calls out.
The CARC layer itself — MIL-DTL-53039, MIL-DTL-64159 (water dispersible), MIL-PRF-22750 or MIL-PRF-85285, plus camouflage systems per MIL-PRF-24712B and MIL-PRF-32348.
The exact combination is dictated by your drawing, the substrate and the service environment. If the print names the primer and the topcoat, that pairing is the requirement — substituting an equivalent is a deviation, not a shortcut.
Not just “CARC green.” Give the pretreatment, the primer spec, the topcoat spec and the color number. Ambiguity at quote time becomes a hold at inspection time.
CARC is an insulating film. Ground straps, bonding surfaces, connector faces and fastener seats that need electrical continuity have to be masked, and they have to be marked on the drawing.
Both minimum and maximum. Too thin fails the requirement; too thick can fail fit and flexibility. It is measured, so it should be specified.
Field damage happens. Decide up front whether repair is done to the same system, and make sure the people doing it have the right material — commercial paint over CARC defeats the system.
Where Gleco fits. We are certified under special processes for military-specification painting, we quote and provide the certification needed for CARC work, and we apply EMI/RFI shielding for military and commercial electronics. Our quality system is AS9100D and ISO 9001:2015 certified and we are ITAR registered. The full specification list is on our MIL-Spec Information page.
Chemical Agent Resistant Coating. The defining property is that chemical warfare agents cannot absorb into the film, so contaminated equipment can be decontaminated rather than scrapped.
No. It is a specified system — pretreatment, primer and topcoat together. The characteristic flat green, tan or black finish is a signature-reduction requirement, not the definition.
Gloss and infrared reflectance are controlled properties on these specifications for signature reduction. That is also why touch-up with commercial paint is not acceptable.
No. CARC is a liquid coating system. Where a drawing calls out CARC, powder is not an alternative.
Yes. We quote and provide the certification needed for CARC and other MIL-Spec work, with traceability and inspection records.
They must be masked. CARC is an insulating film, so ground straps, bonding surfaces and connector faces need to be called out on the drawing and protected during application.
MIL-PRF-24712B, MIL-PRF-32348, MIL-DTL-53039, MIL-DTL-64159, MIL-PRF-22750, MIL-PRF-85285 topcoats; MIL-DTL-53022, MIL-DTL-53030, MIL-PRF-23377, MIL-PRF-85582 and zinc-rich primers; MIL-DTL-5541, MIL-C-8514 and DOD-P-15328 pretreatments; cleaning per TT-C-490E.
Send the drawing with the full system callout. We will confirm what we can hold and what certification comes with it.
