Detection of Munitions in Used Packing Materials

Munitions and detonable residues of energetic materials in used munitions containers represent a significant safety hazard to operations personnel and equipment. Besides the possibility of containing unexploded munitions, munitions containers are contaminated with explosives residues ranging in concentration from surface contamination to mass detonable quantities of explosives. While trace surface contamination does not pose a detonation risk, larger (bulk) quantities of explosive residue pose a substantial detonation risk. Given the large quantity containers used to ship munitions, technologies capable of rapid and accurate screening of munitions containers for munitions and mass detonable quantities of explosives are needed. Nomadics proposes to use our proven Fido explosives detection technology configured specifically to meet this urgent need. The project will involve characterization of the target materials, modification of the sampling system to support detection of munitions in packing materials, integration of the modified sampling system with the Fido detection platform, and demonstration of the system's effectiveness against the desired target in realistic scenarios. In Phase II, we will further optimize the munitions detection prototype and move toward a design that meets the system requirements while being capable of large-scale production.