O-104 Ed2 Overview of MSIAC Workshop Examining the Effect of Ageing Upon Insensitive Munitions Across the Life Cycle and the Status of Subsequent IM Ageing Efforts

The effect of ageing upon reduced vulnerability energetic materials and related Insensitive Munitions (IM) technologies is of great interest to many nations. As more IM systems are developed and introduced into service, a greater understanding is required in many key areas related to ageing and surveillance including:

• Critical ageing mechanisms of reduced vulnerability energetic materials and IM technologies;
• Suitable tools to monitor these changes including the use of non-destructive testing, in-built sensors and data logging systems;
• Ability for use of modelling and simulation to predict the ageing of materials and what is their subsequent response to threat stimuli;
• Suitable S3 and surveillance methodologies for IM systems;
• Cost benefit analysis of IM systems across the life cycle.

In response to requests from its member nations, the NATO Munitions Safety Information Analysis Centre (MSIAC) held a workshop on Insensitive Munitions The Effect of Ageing Upon Lifecycle in May 2005, with the principal aim being to produce a report on the current knowledge in this area.

A number of excellent conclusions and recommendations came out of the workshop. Two of those were that there was a greater need for international sharing of IM ageing information and that an international technology demonstrator (TDP)project (TDP) be established to learn more about IM ageing. To support those 2 areas, MSIAC has a 2006 tasking from its Steering Committee to co-ordinate and assist in a data -sharing initiative among MSIAC nations. MSIAC has invited its member nations to join in this effort. The first goal for nations is to identify and share their existing IM ageing information so that it can be collectively analyzed. The intent with the TDP is that once it is learned what knowledge gaps exist then a TDP can be developed to fill those gaps.

This paper will provide an overview of the ageing workshop and will describe the status of the MSIAC IM ageing data sharing initiative.