Innovative Technologies for Reducing Unexploded Ordnance (UXO)

This proposal will develop technology that will render cluster bomblets, such as the BLU-97, safe to handle and dispose of individual bomblets that have failed to explode. As this technology will be of small size due to the volume constraints of a bomblet fuze, the technology resulting from the research & development of phases I & II will have an equal utility to gravity bombs of much larger size weapons. The focus of this proposal will be to develop a method to neutralize the safe/arming, energetic mechanism in a bomblet's fuze. Within seconds after impact should the primary arming fuze fail to detonate the bomblet, the primary detonation feature will be neutralized. The action of the neutralizing device will not in anyway affect the normal function of the weapon's detonating device. The goal of this SBIR is to develop a global neutralizing design that can be incorporated as a drop in feature in any weapon fuze. It will have a function indicator that can be viewed on the outside of the weapon that will indicate the weapon has been neutralized. This a joint proposal of Radiation Effects Research Associates and Maegerlein Materials Investigations, Inc