06 June 2023 13h45-14h15
by Cdt Dr Ir Romuald VAN RIET
Ammunition ageing has always been an issue, especially when ammunition is stored in hot climates. Ammunition ageing can lead to deterioration of the weapon's ballistic properties, damage to weapon systems and, in extreme cases, spontaneous ignition of the energetic materials. A large number of accidents caused by ammunition ageing have been recorded. This is a matter of great concern for the Belgian Armed Forces, as it is their responsibility to ensure that the ammunition used in operations and training is still safe and suitable for service. With this in mind, and in the absence of an integrated solution for in-service ammunition monitoring, ammunition managers have to rely on very conservative generic models to estimate the life of many different types of ammunition, including most small arms ammunition and ammunition used by the Land Component. This leads to significant premature disposal and very high replacement and transportation costs, with a significant impact on operational logistics. For this reason, a better understanding of the ageing of energetic materials and its modelling is one of the research topics of the RMA's Energetic Materials Engineering Research Unit. This webinar will introduce the topic of ammunition ageing and illustrate it with practical examples from operations for which the RMA has provided expertise. In addition, the perspectives for the implementation of an in-service surveillance strategy in an operational context based on environmental monitoring and predictive testing will be discussed.