High Performance Energetic Propellant Ingredient Process Research and Development

Current state of the art oxidizers have been in service for decades, leaving the performance of our munitions and propulsion systems unchanged while our tactical objectives have increased in their requirements. Keeping with ongoing changes in the worlds military, maintaining a tactical advantage while meeting or exceeding mission capability requirements is of utmost importance for our nation. As such, the DoD thus requires a new generation of oxidizers with increased performance and reduced sensitivity to thermal, impact and shock stimuli. Specifically, these new oxidizers will have to show an energy greater than HMX while offering a sensitivity profile better than TNT. Moreover, an increase in impulse density and specific impulse (Isp) while offering a long service life is highly desirable especially if the material is also classified as insensitive. A key challenge is the development of novel compounds offering improved performance while maintaining suitable mechanical properties throughout the long service life. The identification, optimization and manufacture of the next generation of oxidizers requires a holistic approach to the problem. Our team will address this opportunity by enabling the rapid development of a new class of energetic oxidizers for propellant formulations.