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2
New Energetic Materials
CURRENT RESEARCH FOCUS
In presentations made to the committee, the commitment of the U.S. Air Force, U.S.
Army, and U.S. Navy to new energetic materials research on CHNO/F compounds was
emphasized. Representatives of each service stated that new CHNO/F compounds will play
a vital role in improving the capability of existing and planned systems. Each service
presented research efforts focused on essentially unique suites of CHNO/F compounds.
They all agreed that CHNO/F compounds continue to be the central and core ingredients for
the vast majority of explosive and propellant formulations for the foreseeable future.) As
such, this specialized field of synthesis needs to be a dynamic element of any initiative for
meeting the emerging performance goals of future military ordnance.2 It is important to note
that the committee's task did not extend to verifying these service requirements presented to
it.
The U.S. effort in the synthesis of energetic materials at present involves
approximately 24 chemists, several of whom are approaching retirement. Few chemists are
being trained to replace them.3 The committee considers these scientists to be a national
resource whose productivity in terms of new energetic compounds has been very high. If the
level of effort that these scientists have contributed is not fostered and maintained, the
United States will lose the technological edge that it has gained as a result of their work.
Attracting top synthetic chemistry talent to energetic materials research is possible
only if the field is perceived to be scientifically exciting and financially stable. It has been
argued that expansion of the synthesis effort is easily justified with respect to U.S.
2
R.S. Miller. 1995. Research on new energetic materials. Pp. 3-14 in Proceedings of the Materials
Research Society, Vol. 418: Decomposition, Combustion, and Detonation Chemistry of Energetic
Materials, T. B. Bril l , T. P. Russell, W.C. Tao, and R. B. Ward le. eds. Warrendale, Pa .: Materials
Research Society.
J.M. Goldwasser, ONR, 2001, presentation to the committee, July 31; J.A. Lannon, RDC/Picatinny,
2001, presentation to the committee, July 31; M. Berman, AFOSR, 2001, presentation to the
committee, July 31; D. Woodbury, DARPA, 2001, presentation to the committee, July 31; K. Kim,
DTRA, 2001, presentation to the committee, July 31.
3 T. Highsmith,Thiokol. 2002. Presentation tothe committee. April 17
8
.
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NEWENERGETIC MATERIALS
competitiveness with other countries—for example, Russia and China, where the perception
is that hundreds of capable scientists actively work in this area.4 These numbers would
suggest that the United States and Western nations should have faced major technological
surprises from this large community investigating new compounds. While there have been
notable exceptions, such as with ammonium dinitramide and aluminum hydride (AIHs, or
alane), the numbers and impact of foreign-generated new energetic materials have been
comparatively small, calling into question the validity of this argument. Bigger is not
necessarily better. This discussion does not, however, dilute the case for a continued, viable
U.S. energetic materials synthesis program.
The need for a strong synthesis program today is inherently based on the new critical
9
tactical requirements of the battlefield. These requirements are a result of new mission
profiles and rapid turnover in other weapons system components and tactics that will
fundamentally alter the mission requirements for new energetic materials. Using yesterday's
energetic materials exclusively in today's (or even more so, tomorrow's) battlefield systems
would be as effective as trying to run a Ferrari on kerosene. While it is generally accepted
that new CH NO/F molecules will offer only incremental improvements to the currently
employed materials, these improvements will lead to significant cumulative weapons system
performance enhancement on target when coupled to technological advances in targeting,
lethality, survivability, and advanced fusing, to cite a few areas.
TRANSITION BARRIERS
It must be pointed out that over the past several decades, the products of the research
of the energetic materials synthesis community have not successfully made the transition to
military applications. One of the greatest barriers to capitalizing on current efforts is the lack
of adequate and stable resources (including personnel) for synthesizing new materials and
for shifting the most promising materials from the laboratory into fielded systems.
Historically, the transition period from discovery of a new material to its availability in the
field has been several decades. Very few materials complete that transition owing to the
large number of requirements that a material must meet. These include the need to achieve
high density, good mechanical properties, low sensitivities, good stability, low cost, ease of
manufacture, and environmental acceptability.5
While the synthesis of new molecules is relatively inexpensive, full characterization,
scale-up, and other processes necessary to introduce a new material into the military
inventory require significantly more resources. In the current acquisition process, program
managers cannot assume the inherent risk associated with research materials, since there is
a good chance that major stumbling blocks will be encountered and system developers do
not have the charter, or the resources, to invest in the development of new materials.
Moreover, research managers are similarly resource-constrained. They cannot afford to
support full characterization of emerging materials, which in the past has been the
responsibility of the applied and advanced development community (i.e., the underfunded
6.2 and 6.3 program elements, respectively).
The Department of Defense (DoD) is essentially the only customer for these energetic
materials. There is no question that the nation's capability to discover and to utilize new
energetic materials is in decline. A significant, defense-funded energetic materials program
would need to be implemented to stop this decline. Such a program should do the following:
4 H. Shechter, OSU. 2001. Synthesis of 1,2,3,4-Tetrazines Di-N-Oxides, Pentazole Derivatives, and
Pentazine Poly-N-Oxides. Presentation to the committee. December 13.
5 A. Sanderson. 1995. Proceedings of the NIMIC (NATO Insensitive Munitions Information Center)
Workshop on What Makes a Useable New Energetic Material. MIMIC TR19950061. Listed online at
http://www.nato.int/related/nimic/reports/limited/limited.htm.
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10
ADVANCED ENERGETIC MATERIALS
· Become closely coupled to future weapons systems needs;
· Address the full spectrum of research, advanced scale-up, and characterization of
advanced energetic materials;
· Focus on the qualification of new energetic materials for service use; and
· Train tomorrow's workforce.
CU RRENT CH NO/F EN ERG ETIC MATERIALS RESEARCH
The national energetic materials synthesis programs all have a common theme:
beating the performance of the current, most energetic materials deployed in today's
arsenal—namely, the nitramine explosives cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) and
cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine (HMX).6 The goal of new materials synthesis is generally
focused on performance improvement. In most cases, target molecules are chosen only after
theoretical predictions from extensively calibrated, empirically based computer codes
indicate that the substance, if synthesized, will significantly improve performance in weapons
applications. This approach to new conventional CHNO/F energetic materials can be
characterized by recent U.S. successes, as detailed below. The chemical and molecular
structures of such materials are shown in Figure 1-1 in Chapter 1.
CHNO/F Targeted Energetic Materials Synthesis Programs
Caged Nitramines
In the early 1970s, the Research Department of the then-Naval Weapons Center
(NWC) in China Lake, California, conducted a short-term effort to synthesize
hexanitrobenzene (HNB). This work was funded by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
(LLNL). The successful synthesis of HNB catalyzed a multiyear effort of new CHNO (carbon-
hydrogen-nitrogen-oxygen) compound synthesis at China Lake that culminated in 1987 with
the synthesis of the caged nitramine explosive hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-201.7 The
caged nitramine effort was funded over almost a 15-year period by a number of sources,
including the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Mechanics Division, internal NWC 6.1 (basic
researchy, and 6.2 (applied research) funding.89
CL-20 has the highest density of all currently known stable nitramine explosives.
(Density is an important physical property that couples directly to improved performance.)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has developed and fully characterized the
performance and safety properties of a new explosive formula, Livermore Explosive
Formulation 19 (LX-19), using CL-20 as the energetic component. CL-20, the single CHNO
explosive currently in the transition process for qualification as an explosive and propellant
ingredient, shows great promise. ATK Thiokol Propulsion has developed the scale-up
processing protocol under DoD ManTech funding for large-scale synthesis of CL-20, and
CL-20 is readily available for explosive and propellant developers to employ in future military
applications.
6 See Figure 1-l in Chapter 1 for the molecular structures of RDX and HMX.
7 See Figure 1-l for the molecular structure of HNB and CL-20.
A.T. Nielsen, A.P. Chafin, S.L. Christian, D.W. Moore, M.P. Nadler, R.A. Nissan, D.J. Vanderah, R.D.
Gilard i, C. F. George, and J.L. Flippen-Anderson. 1998. Polyazapolycycl ic caged polynitra m ines.
Tetrahedron 54:11793-11812.
9 A.T. Nielsen, ed. 1995. Nitrocarbons. Weinheim, Germany: VCH Publishing.
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NEWENERGETIC MATERIALS
Octanitrocubane
11
Researchers at the University of Chicago recently published the successful synthesis of
one such target compound, octanitrocubane.~° ii The work was supported by the U.S. Army's
Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC) and by the ONR
l\/lechanics Division. A tour de force of modern synthetic chemistry, this work is illustrative of
the value of sufficient and sustained support. However, octranitrocubane currently does not
exhibit the predicted high density, and it is not yet clear whether cubane-based energetics
will find a practical niche. In addition, the extremely long synthetic route of this material
implies a high production cost, which may affect its application.
Nitrogen Fluorine Substituted Nitramines
In several classes of explosives, the replacement of oxygen with fluorine may enhance
many desired properties. For example, the introduction of difluoroamine groups into HMX
may increase its density, performance, and specific impulse.
Particular advantages may be noted when the formulation includes metal ingredients.
These expectations suggest that similar modifications should be investigated for a selected
few of the more promising CHNO/F compounds that have been synthesized.
A comparison of two of the more common compounds can be seen in Table 2-1.
TABLE 2-1 Comparison of HMX and HNFX
Compound Density (g/cm3) P (GPa) Isp (s)
HMX 1.90 37.4 272
H N FX 1.gga 47.4a 285a
a calculated
The ONR Mechanics Division continues to fund synthesis efforts at the Research
Department, Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division (NAWC-WDy, China Lake, and at the
Naval Surface Warfare Center-lndian Head Division (NSWC-IH), pursuing fluorine analogs of
HMX. In an essentially one-person effort over the last decade, a family of difluoramine (NF~)
substituted cyclic nitramines was synthesized, having calculated densities, heats of
formation, and performance equal to or greater than those of HMX.~2-~4 The first scale-up of
these materials was initiated in 2002 with a small commercial contract as one task in the
Advanced En ergetics Initiative (AEI).~5 The goal of this project is to prepare sufficient gram
LOP. Eaton and M.X. Zhang. 2002. Octanitrocubane: A new nitrocarbon. Propellants, Explosives,
Pyrotechnics 27:1-6.
itM.X. Zhang, P. Eaton, and R. Gilardi. 2000. Hepta- and octanitrocubanes. Angewandte Chemie,
I nternational Edition 39:401-404.
i2 R.D. Chapman, M.F. Welker, and C.B. Kreutzberger. 1998. Difluoramination of heterocyclic ketones:
Control of microbasicity. Journal of Organic Chemistry 63:1566-1570.
i3 R.D. Chapman, R.D. Gilardi, M.F. Welker, and C.B Kreutzberger. 1999. Nitrolysis of a highly
deactivated amide by protonitronium. Synthesis and structure of HNFX1. Journal of Organic
Chemistry 64:960-965.
i4T. Axenrod, X-P Guan, J. Sun, L. Qi, R.D. Chapman, and R.D. Gilardi. 2001. Synthesis of 3,3-
bis~d if l uorami noyoctabyd ro-1,5,7,7-tetranitro-1,5-diazocine (TN FX), a diversified energetic
heterocycle. Tetrahedron Letters 42:2621-2623.
i5The Advanced Energetics Initiative was proposed by the Office of the Secretary of Defense for
maturing the fundamental technologies required to transition the next generation of energetics
materials into field use.
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12
ADVANCED ENERGETIC MATERIALS
quantities of HNFX, a gem-difluoronitramine substituted HMX analog, to confirm calculated
physical and performance properties.
TNAZ
Other work funded by ARDEC led to the synthesis and process for the commercial
scale-up of 3,3,1-trinitroazetidine (TNAZ), a strained ring Heterocyclic nitramine. TNAZ is one
of the few new energetic materials found to be thermally stable above its melting point.
However, in formulations studies, it has been found that TNAZ has high volatility that will
severely inhibit its utility in military explosive and propellant applications. Further
limitations to its use include the processing, polymorph, and material costs.
High-Nitrogen-Con ten t Heterocyclic Molecules
Significant progress toward enhanced performance and increased stability is being
made in the synthesis of high-nitrogen-content Heterocyclic molecules. This area of synthesis
is being funded in the Department of Energy (DOE) Laboratories, LLNL, and Los Alamos
National Laboratory as components of DoD and ONR programs, and at SRI International and
at the Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, Edwards Air Force Base, by the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA). While a plethora of new molecules has been
synthesized, none has yet been prepared in sufficient quantity or purity for extensive
evaluation. Theoretical calculations on some target molecules suggest that materials with
greater performance than that of HMX, and a higher heat of formation than that of either
HMX or CL-20, may exist in this class of energetic materials.~7 Highsmith,~s Shechter'49
Hiskey,20 and Koppes2i touched on several examples in their presentations to the
committee. Many of these compounds, or relatives thereto, were initially discovered and
reported in the open literature by scientists in the former Soviet Union.22-3i To date, no
OK. Anderson, J. Homsy, R. Behrens, and S. Bulusu. 1998. Modeling the thermal decomposition of
TNAZ and NDNAZ. Pp.239-247 in Proceedings of the Eleventh International Detonation
Symposium, August 31-September 4, 1998, Snowmass, Colo.
~ 7 R.J. Bartlett, University of Florida. 2002. Presentation to the committee. April 18.
JET. Highsmith, Thiokol. 2002. Presentation to the committee. April 17.
is H. Shechter, OSU.2001. Synthesis of 1,2,3,4-Tetrazines Di-N-Oxides, Pentazole Derivatives, and
Pentazine Poly-N-Oxides. Presentation to the committee. December 13.
20 M.A. Hiskey, LANL.2002. Presentation to the committee. April 18.
2i W. Koppes, NSWC-IH. 2002. Presentation to the committee. April 18.
22S.A. Shevelev, l.L. Dallinger, T.K. Shkineva, and B.l. Ugrak. 1993. Nitropyrazoles,7. Nitro
derivatives of hi-, term, and quaterpyrazoles. Russian Chemical Bulletin 42:1857-1861.
23 I.L. Dallinger, T.l. Cherkasovaa, and S.A. Shevelev. 1997. Mendeleev Commun.58.
24S.Sh. Shukurov and M.A. Kukaniev. 1993. A new synthesis of 3-alkyl-6-alkylthio-1,2,4-triazolo t3,4-
b] 1,3,4-thiadiazoles, Russian Chemical Bulletin 42:1860-1861.
25S.A. Shevelev, V.M. Vinogradov, l.L. Dallinger, B.l. Ugrak, A.A. Fainzilberg, and V.l. Fillipov. 1991.
Reaction of NH-Azoles with fluorosulfonyl-N, N-difluorohydroxylamine. Synthesis of N-
Fluorosulfonylazoles. English translation of Izv. Akad. Nauk Ser. Khim. 10:2419-2429.
263~51-Amino-4-nitropyrazole: Convenient synthesis and study of nitration. 1993. Russian Chemical
Bulletin 42:1861-1864.
27 H. Piotrowski, T. Urbanski, and K. WeJrochmatacz. 1971. Reaction of 2,2-dinitropropane-1,3-diol
with 1,3,5-trialkylhexabydro-s-triazines. Bull. Acad. Sci. France 359-362.
280.V. Zavarzina, O.A. Takitin, and L.l. Khemlnitskii. 1994. Substitution of the nitro group in
chloronitrofuroxan by N- and O-trimethyl derivatives. Mendeleev Commun. 135.
29 I.B. Starchenkov, V.G. Andrianov, and A.F. Mishev. 1998. Chemistry of furazano t3,4-d~pyrazine 6.
1,2,3-triazolot4,5-d~furazanot3,4-bipyrazines. Chemistry of Heterocyclic Compounds 34:1081-
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NEW ENERGETIC MA TERIALS
evidence exists which suggests that any of these materials reported in the former Soviet
Union were moved into military systems. Investment in the category of high nitrogen
compounds appears at this time to have the potential for generating significant midterm
application. Additionally, new energetic materials efforts over the past 10 to 15 years funded
by the DoD Office of Munitions, in partnership with the national laboratories, have resulted in
the synthesis of many polycyclic nitrogen-containing heterocyclic materials of potential
military application. More recently, DARPA has initiated continuation funding for energetic
materials work in this field at SRI International.32
13
All-Nitrogen Materials
In the general area of high-density energetic materials, the syntheses and reduction to
practice of all-nitrogen compounds are high-risk endeavors. Theoretical calculations predict
that many of the all-nitrogen compounds will have higher positive heats of formation (the
calculated heat formation of the unknown compound, No, is 753,120 J/mol, whereas the
heat formation of HMX is 75,019 J/moly, higher densities (the calculated density of N4, is
2.757 g/cm3, whereas the density of HMX is 1.905 g/cm3y, lower combustion signatures,
good ca Icu lated propel la nt cha racteristics, a nd perha ps lower sensitivities the n those of
materials in the arsenal.33 These properties have yet to be verified by experiment.34 The heat
of explosion for these all-nitrogen compounds relies solely on the endothermicity of these
molecules, as they have no constituents that will oxidize binder, metal, or fuel to contribute
to Isp, or detonation pressure.
The recently synthesized N5+ cation is highly reactive and only relatively stable when
associated with a large polyfluoro-element anion.35 Ideally, based on ionization potential and
electron affinity calculations, the imaginary N5- species is a likely candidate to form a stable,
high-energy compound when combined with the N5 cation. The probability of a functionally
fielded, all-nitrogen compound is very low, even in the long term. While theorists may predict
that a variety of all-nitrogen species should exist, e.g., N~, Ns~, N~-, Ns, and N~o, the synthetic
routes to these materials will certainly be a long time in coming. Syntheses of the
all-nitrogen compounds should be a far-term goal at best. Nevertheless, this highly
innovative research effort should be continued.
It must be noted that all of the new energetic molecules discussed above are
essentially legacy molecules that resulted from sustained, concerted multiyear or even
multidecade efforts, and that the funding of these materials synthesis programs has
essentially dwindled to near zero. These legacy materials are in no way ideal, however, and
some degradation and decomposition must be expected. The Advanced Energetics Initiative
has begun to address the current funding deficiencies, but it is manifestly clear that a
significant infusion of resources—both funding as well as new trained personnel—will be
required to reestablish this critical technology base.
1085.
30V.A. Tatakovsky. 1996. The design of stable high nitrogen systems. Pp. 15-36 in Proceedings of the
Materials Research Society, Vol. 418: Decomposition, Combustion, and Detonation Chemistry of
Energetic Materials, T.B. Brill, T. P. Russel l , W.C. Tao, and R. B. Ward le. eds. Warrendale, Pa.:
Materials Research Society.
3iY. Yongzhong and S.Z. Huang. 1989. Synthesis of polynitrocompounds from nitroguanidine.
Propellants, Explosives, and Pyrotechnics 14:150-152.
32J. Bottaro. 2001. Presentation to the committee. December 14.
33R.J. Bartlett, University of Florida. 2002. Presentation to the committee. April 18.
34R.J. Bartlett, University of Florida. 2002. Presentation to the committee. April 18.
35K.O. Christe, USC. 2001. Presentation to the committee. December 14.
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14
ADVANCED ENERGETIC MATERIALS
CURRENT TRANSITION TO APPLICATIONS
Of all the new energetic materials synthesized over the past 20 years or so—and there
have been literally hundreds—CL-20 is unique in that it has shifted to significant commercial
production. It is now in exploratory and advanced development for a variety of defense
applications. CL-20 has also received considerable interest in the Free World, and extensive
vvork on this material has been and is being conducted in Sweden, France, Great Britain, and
elsewhere. ATK Thiokol Propulsion markets CL-20 in the United States. BOFORS/Celsius of
Sweden and Societe National de Poudre et Explosivs of France are also commercial
manufacturers of CL-20.
It must be emphasized that the slow transition by CL-20 bodes poorly for other
promising materials. The research effort that led to the synthesis of CL-20 spanned a period
of approximately 15 years, culminating in its synthesis in 1987. Its transition to commercial
production has taken another 15 years; it is currently available commercially from U.S. and
foreign vendors. All other energetic materials CHNO/F compounds, that is, high explosives
.. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .
as well as other materials, are in early stages of research and exploratory development and
are, at a minimum, 5 to 10 years from potential utilization. Most of these materials will need
a similar investment in order to reach their commercial potential, but it is unlikely that they
will receive such an investment.36 The 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 funding for new energetic materials
synthesis has been significantly reduced across the board at all DoD laboratories performing
energetic materials research and development.37
Although the transition history of CL-20 is long, it is still shorter than the norm for new
energetic molecules currently in the U.S. arsenal. An examination of energetic materials fills
currently in use in the modern U.S. weapons arsenal reveals that the principal ingredients for
explosive and propellant applications remain TNT (a World War I explosive) and the
nitramines HMX and RDX (World War 11 explosives). The same materials are the preponderant
ingredients for foreign military applications as well. These highly energetic CHNO compounds
are the choice of weapons designers because they are relatively inexpensive and available,
and they meet the extensive and stringent list of requirements imposed for performance,
safety, reliability, compatibility, lifetime, environmental impact, and life-cycle cost, to list just
a few characteristics.38 Consideration of all of these properties is critical before a promising
new material can be moved into production. In order to adequately address them,
substantially more time and effort will be needed. Unfortunately, today's funding
environment does not support the requisite transition program for potentially viable new
energetic molecules.
36The only "material" that does not fall into this category is the thermobaric fill demonstrated by a
Defense Threat Reduction Agency effort. This is termed a new material, but it was devised simply
through formulation, using currently employed energetic materials to mimic an explosive fill first
demonstrated by the former Soviet Union.
37 It is important to note that the sponsor's principal charge to the committee was to find, if it existed,
the "low hanging fruit" generated by the synthesis/energetic materials community. The criteria for
this goal were such that if a significant investment was made in the near term—that is 1 to 3 years—
a particular material could be brought to maturity for insertion into weapons use. Unfortunately, no
low hanging fruit was found to exist in any of the technologies that the committee was charged to
examine.
38 A. Sanderson. 1995. Proceedings of the NIMIC (NATO Insensitive Munitions Information Center)
Workshop on What Makes a Useable New Energetic Material. MIMIC TR19950061. Listed online at
http://www. nato. i nt/ rel ated/n i m i c.
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NEWENERGETIC MATERIALS
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
FINDINGS
With regard to the research and development of new energetic materials, the
committee found that:
.
.
.
15
CHNO/F (carbon-hydrogen-nitrogen-oxygen compound with fluorine) compounds will
continue to be the central and core energetic ingredients for the vast majority of
explosive and propellant formulations for the foreseeable future. As such, this
specialized field of synthesis will be a dynamic element of any initiative for meeting
the emerging performance goals of future military ordnance.
One of the greatest barriers to capitalizing on current efforts is the lack of adequate
and stable resources (including personnel) for continued synthesis of new materials
and for supporting transition development studies of the most promising materials
from the laboratory into fielded systems (from 6.1 fbasic research] to 6.2 Applied
research] and 6.3 Advanced technology development] and beyond).
Expansion of the scale-up and properties characterization program is imperative to
move the most promising materials from 6.1 to the 6.2 and 6.3 levels.
· The anticipated smaller, internally carried ordnance with a concomitant requirement
for higher performance will require new explosive formulations with higher energy
content. These new critical tactical requirements of the battlefield mandate a strong
synthesis program.
· Many of the current synthesis efforts are essentially one-person efforts or are led by
very senior scientists. Funding these first-class synthetic chemists at a continuous,
high level so that they are able to develop the next generation of energetic materials
scientists is of utmost importance. The future of energetic materials syntheses and
development rests on this group.
· CL-20 is the only new CHNO explosive compound that is currently available for large-
scale synthesis and qualification in new military explosive and propellant
formulations.
The classical organic synthesis of new energetic molecules has low risk, yet a
disproportionately high payoff. Performance and property enhancements available
from new materials will be the stepping-stones to improved weapons effectiveness.
Current productivity in the area of organic synthesis has been quite high, in spite of
a relatively small annual investment.
Recommendations
To conclude, energetic materials synthesis has prov
ided the only "low hanging fruit"
identified by the committee, and the Department of Defense should invest in the continued
discovery, characterization, and development of such materials.
The committee recommends that:
.
An investment strategy be implemented that emphasizes not only the development
of new energetic materials, but also their characterization and scale-up.
· Investment be made in formulation technology to facilitate the transition of new
compounds. It is important that this effort be funded to the point at which a
weapons system designer can be assured that these new formulations have
sufficiently low risk for implementation because they ensure improved performance
against targets.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
materials synthesis
