M113A2 Dozer, Canada
by Luc Desmoreaux
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The US Army held its 5th annual “top 10 greatest inventions” ceremony recently in Arlington, VA, recognizing the Top 10 inventions of 2006. The top picks were chosen by Soldiers from active-Army divisions and the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command according to three criteria: impact on Army capabilities, potential benefits outside the Army and inventiveness.

Three of this year’s top inventions are geared toward defeating IED land mines, and there’s even one tracked armored blast from the past. Most inventions have already been fielded to soldiers on the front lines, and the list includes….

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Mulwala plant
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Although single base propellants have been around for over 100 years, production of this type of propellant only began in Australia during World War 2, when appropriate equipment and know-how were provided under the USA’s Lend Lease Scheme. Prior to this date, all propellants had been of the British double base type. The Mulwala gun propellant facility in New South Wales was set up to produce these commodities, and remains the sole supplier of military-grade propellants and high explosives to the Benalla ammunition plant in northern Victoria. These plants are deemed to be strategic national assets, and produce ammunition for Australia’s Defence Forces; Mulwala also produces low-grade explosives and propellants for a few other customers, including America’s NASA.

Australia isn’t the only country looking to modernize single-source ammunition facilities from World War 2 or earlier. The USA is in the same boat. The Mulwala redevelopment project has finally received full approval, and work will commence shortly – with the assistance of the same firm that owns the USA’s prime (and until recently, only) small caliber military ammunition production facility…

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The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington in Washington, DC has issued contracts for construction of facilities at Indian Head, MD related to explosives disposal and counter-IED work. NAVSEA’s Energetics Center also resides at Indian Head, which makes it an appropriate location to address issues like IED land mines.

Thus far, all contracts have been awarded to John C. Grimberg Co., Inc. of Rockville, MD.

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Stresau Laboratory, Inc. in Spooner, WI won an estimated $12.2 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for MK17 Mod 1 electric blasting caps. Work will be performed in Spooner, WI and is expected to be complete by March 2011. The contract was competitively procured and advertised via Federal Business Opportunities, with 8 proposals solicited and 3 offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, IN is the contracting activity (N00164-06-D-4236).

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As the New Year approaches, DID thought we’d end on a different kind of note.

A recent report from the United States Department of State notes that the USA has spent more than $1 billion over the past dozen years on humanitarian land mine removal efforts around the world. That money has removed land mines, paid for educational messages on the risks posed by mines, helped victims of mine injuries, and funded R&D to improve existing humanitarian mine removal programs. It has also helped establish mine action programs in a number of nations.

Drawing on data collected by the US departments of State and Defense, the US Agency for International Development, the Leahy War Victims Fund and the Mine Action Information Center at James Madison University in Virginia, the accompanying fact sheet traces key actions related to mines and unexploded ordnance beginning in the US Civil War in 1862 and extending through the end of 2005, with a strong focus on the 1998-2005 period and a solid chronology of successes throughout the year.

Meanwhile, the Landmine Monitor Report 2005 is the seventh annual report from the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), as it seeks to monitor and report on implementation of and compliance with the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. It also seeks to assess international responses to mine-related humanitarian issues. (Hat Tip: ReliefWeb)

DID entered “full rate publication” in 2005, and we appreciate each and every one of our readers for entrusting us with their time and attention this year. See you all again in the New Year!

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Things that make you
go BOOM…

Thermobaric weapons are also known as “fuel-air explosives.” No longer confined to the bombs that were used to clear helicopter landing zones in Vietnam, or even the gargantuan 15,000-pound BLU-82 Commando Vault/”Daisy Cutter” [see Graphic | Flash] and 21,000-pound GBU-43B “MOAB” bombs, they’re now finding their way into portable rocket launchers like the SMAW, RPG, et. al. DID noted this very trend in our March 10, 2005 coverage of the LAW rocket’s return, and similar man-portable thermobaric rockets proved extremely effective during The Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004. Fortified buildings used as strongholds by Islamist paramilitary death squads were sometimes caved in with a single shot from a US Marine Corps SMAW-NE (Shoulder-Mounted Antitank Weapon, New Explosive).

Defense Tech has a link-filled article noting that hand-held thermobaric rockets can be found in Russian and Chinese arsenals these days, among others. The article also addresses some of the implications these weapons present for issues like vehicle protection design, body armor protection, etc.

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Ensign-Bickford Aerospace and Defense Co. in Simsbury, CT won an estimated $9.4 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for MK34 Mod 0 Pyrotechnic Leads. They provide an electrical impulse to explosive ordnance disposal tool sets, and extend the safe stand-off distance. Work will be performed in Graham, KY and is expected to be complete by September 2010. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three proposals solicited and two offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in Crane, IN issued the contract (N00164-05-D-4223).

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Shaw Environmental Inc. in Stoughton, MA received a $23 million firm-fixed-price contract for the design, purchase, and installation of equipment to modernize the white phosphorous facility at Pine Bluff Arsenal, AR. White phosphorous is an extremely effective smoke generator, especially for small size devices like grenades or mortars. It also has some uses as an incendiary, and its combustability in warm weather or upon handling can make it dangerous.

According to GlobalSecurity.org, Pine Bluff’s original mission was as a manufacturing center for magnesium and thermite munitions…

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JIN: making IEDs vanish

DID has referred to DefenseTech.org’s and the New York Post’s investigations of Tucson, AZ energy weapon company Ionatron, Inc. in a past article. Today we’re reporting on a new technology from Ionatron that’s about to be deployed to Iraq in order to counter the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) favored by insurgents and terrorists.

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