IMPROVED PYROTECHNIC COMPOSITIONS FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE AMMUNITION

THE NEWEST SMALL ARMS SYSTEMS, 5.56 MM SQUAD AUTOMATIC WEAPON, WITH ITS TRACER CARTRIDGE HAS UNACCEPTABLE DAYLIGHT LUMINOSITY LEVELS. ANTICIPATED FUTURE SUBCALIBER SYSTEMS, WITH HIGHER SPIN RATES, FASTER VELOCITIES, AND SMALL ORIFICES, WILL PRESENT EVEN MORE CHALLENGING PROBLEMS TO PYROTECHNIC FORMULATIONS. A NEED EXISTS TO DEVELOP IMPROVED PYROTECHNIC COMPOSITIONS FOR NEAR-TERM AND ANTICIPATED WEAPON SYSTEMS. RECENT DATA HAS SHOWN THAT IMPROVED PROCESSING PROCEDURES APPLIED TO CONVENTIONAL PYROTECHNIC COMPOSITIONS CAN RESULT IN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED LUMINOSITY LEVELS, AS MUCH AS A THREE-FOLD IMPROVEMENT. SUCH APPROACHES MAY REPRESENT A SOLUTION TO THE NEAR-TERM PROBLEM AND EVEN FUTURE REQUIREMENTS. MORE EXOTIC CHEMILUMINESCENCE MATERIALS, EXTENSIVELY INVESTIGATED FOR CHEMICAL LASER APPLICATIONS, ARE NOTED FOR THEIR EXTREMELY HIGH LUMINOSITY LEVELS. SIX-FOLD IMPROVEMENTS APPEAR FEASIBLE. SUCH MATERIALS, IF DEVELOPED FOR PYROTECHNIC APPLICATIONS, MAY REPRESENT THE ANSWER TO FUTURE REQUIREMENTS. THE PHASE I APPROACH WILL EVALUATE BOTH APPROACHES. MISSION SPECIFICATIONS WILL BE ESTABLISHED AND CANDIDATE PYROTECHNIC MATERIALS WILL BE IDENTIFIED. MODIFIED CONVENTIONAL COMPOSITIONS WILL BE FORMULATED AND SPECTROSCOPICALLY CHARACTERIZED. CHEMILUMINESCENCE WILL ALSO BE FORMULATED AND SPECTROSCOPICALLY CHARACTERIZED. REPRESENTATIVE CANDIDATES WILL BE PREPRED FOR SPIN TESTING IN TRACER AMMUNITION CONFIGURATION. SPIN TESTS WILL BE CONDUCTED AT ARDEC. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTHER DEVELOPMENT WILL BE MADE.