L-102 RS-RDX: Literature Review and Discussions

One area that has created great interest over the last few years in the insensitive munitions field is the existence and properties of reduced sensitivity-RDX (RS-RDX). RS-RDX is chemically indistinguishable from normal RDX yet, due to its crystal morphology, is significantly less sensitive to shock stimuli. This report provides a summary into the current status of RS-RDX including crystal characterisation and formulation shock testing investigations. It is a compilation of work published in open literature sources, including the joint NIMIC/AC-326 RS-RDX Technical Meeting held in Meppen, Germany, November 2003.