INSENSITIVE MUNITIONS CONTAINERS

CURRENT NAVY MUNITION CONTAINERS PROVIDE INADEQUATE PROTECTION FROM A WIDE SPECTRUM OF THREATS. THIS LACK OF PROTECTION MAY RESULT IN DETONATION OF THE SHIP'S MAGAZINE. CURRENT MUNITION CONTAINER DESIGNS MUST MEET REQUIREMENTS FOR VIBRATION, ENVIRONMENT, HANDLING, MAINTAINABILITY, SIZE, AND WEIGHT, BUT DO NOT ADDRESS INSENSITIVEMUNITION PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS OF PROTECTION AGAINST FRAGEMENT/BULLET IMPACT AND SYMPATHETIC DETONATION. OUR GOAL IS TO REDUCE THE PROBABILITY OF A DETONATION/EXPLOSION OF THE MUNITION WHILE STORED IN THE CONTAINER. A COST-EFFECTIVE AND TIMELY SOLUATION TO THIS TECHNICAL CHALLENGE CAN BE OBTAINED BY INTEGRATING MODERN ARMOR MATERIAL TECHNOLOGY AND SYMPATHETIC DETONATION PROTECTION SYSTEMS INTO THE DESIGN OF THE MUNITION CONTAINERS. BASED ON RECENT TESTING DYNA EAST PERFORMED FOR FMC AND MARTIN MARIETTA, AND PRELIMINARY REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE, SEVERAL INNOVATIVE DESIGNS APPEAR PROMISING. BOTH FMC AND MARTIN MARIETTA, PRIME MANUFACTURERS OF THE VLS AND OTHER WEAPON CONTAINER SYSTEMS, HAVE AGREED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROPOSAL PROGRAM. THEIR EXPERTISE WILL BE SOUGHT RESPECT TO MANUFACTURABILITY, SYSTEM COST AND GENERAL FEASIBILITY OF APPROACH. IN THIS PROGRAM WE WILL INTEGRATE ADVANCED CALCULATIONAL METHODS AND TEST TECHNIQUES TO PROVIDE THE NAVY WITH NOT ONLY IMPROVED CONTAINER CONFIGURATIONS DESIGNS BUT AN IMPROVED DESIGN METHODOLOGY.