SBIR-STTR Award

This proposal will develop technology that will render cluster bomblets, such as the BLU-97, safe to handle and dispose of individual bomblets that have failed to explode. As this technology will be of small size due to the volume constraints of a bomblet fuze, the technology resulting from the research & development of phases I & II will have an equal utility to gravity bombs of much larger size weapons. The focus of this proposal will be to develop a method to neutralize the safe/arming, energetic mechanism in a bomblet’s fuze. Within seconds after impact should the primary arming fuze fail to detonate the bomblet, the primary detonation feature will be neutralized. The action of the neutralizing device will not in anyway affect the normal function of the weapon’s detonating device. The goal of this SBIR is to develop a global neutralizing design that can be incorporated as a drop in feature in any weapon fuze. It will have a function indicator that can be viewed on the outside of the weapon that will indicate the weapon has been neutralized. This a joint proposal of Radiation Effects Research Associates and Maegerlein Materials Investigations, Inc

Benefits:
Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) has been causing injury to non-combatants in numerous areas of the world which were former war zones. This SBIR will research the needed technology that can be applied to weapons fuze designs that will cause an UXO to be automatically neutralized shortly after failing to explode. This will make the UXO safe to handle and dispose. This will be a great safety benefit to war weapons clean up following suspension of hostilities. Civilian casualties from inadvertent disturbance of UXO will reduce significantly when this technology has been incorporated into future weapons.

Keywords:
UXO fuze bomblet cluster bomb unexploded ordnance

The need to prevent unexploded ordnance from littering the battlefield has been established by both the U.S. military and news media reports. Submunitions from cluster bombs such as the BLU-97 have recorded dud rates of between 4 and 16 percent depending on which report is quoted. These unexploded ordnance have had the unfortunate results of detonating when disturbed by human touch and handling, often with devastating injuries. The two firms listed above entered into a joint venture to research a fix to the unexploded ordnance problem through a Phase I SBIR sponsored by the Air Forceís Munitions Directorate at Eglin AFB. Two separate approaches to establish a neutralization feature for bomblet fuzes were researched. One approach was a chemical solution that would dissolve the energetic initiation components in the fuze preventing them from function shortly after the bombletís impact with the ground. The other solution was an electro-mechanical feature that would be added to the fuze to prevent or block the firing mechanism from function should the fuze fail to detonate.

Keywords:
Unexploded Ordnance Neutralization Feature Bomblet