© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of National Defence, 2018
Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) of Insensitive Munitions: Challenges and Solutions
Patrick Brousseau, Sonia Thiboutot and Emmanuela Diaz
Defence R&D Canada - Valcartier Research Center
2459 de la Bravoure road
Québec, Québec
Canada G1T 2C1
Patrick.Brousseau@drdc-rddc.gc.ca
Abstract
Over the last five years, Defence R&D Canada has explored efficient and clean methods to
dispose of Insensitive Munitions. Those munitions, that were designed to withstand various
aggressions, are bound to be more difficult to destroy. The results of the work performed to date
lead us to believe that the amount of explosives spread during an EOD operation is directly
proportional to the insensitiveness of the explosive. Some explosives, such as 3-Nitro-1,2,4-
triazol-5-one (NTO) or Ammonium Perchlorate, appear to be difficult to detonate completely
during blow-in-place operations. Another observation is related to the difficulties encountered
using the current EOD methods when Insensitive Munitions must be destroyed in the field.
Results of deposition tests ran on snow will be presented and discussed for their significance.
During the tests, snow samples are collected and analyzed to determine the residual amounts
of IM ingredients after either a high-order scenario, usually obtained when the munition is fired,
or a blow-in-place reaction, occurring when a round is destroyed by a donor charge to eliminate
the safety risk. During those tests, many different disposal methods were explored, i.e. one or
many blocks of Composition C-4, placed at various locations, and shaped charges aimed at
various points on the munitions. For some items tested, only a large shaped charge was
efficient enough to eliminate any significant spread of explosives, and results obtained with
other configurations always showed larger amounts of explosives residues at the detonation
point for blow-in-place scenarios. Our conclusion is that new methods have to be designed to
efficiently destroy Insensitive Munitions (IM). Those methods will include shaped charges,
cutting charges, thermite mixes, high-power lasers and any other technology that will promote
clean high order detonations or clean burning reactions. Our efforts identify those new methods
will be presented, including one where the formulations are slightly modified to promote clean
disposal. It appears that the EOD operators will have to be better equipped, but also possess
higher skill levels than in the past to implement those clean methods.
Introduction
Insensitive Munitions, as per the definition of the term, are designed to be able to
withstand external stimuli without adverse reactions, usually in the form of a violent event such
as a detonation or, in some cases, an explosion. The energetic materials in the munitions were
selected such that they were less sensitive to shocks and thermal aggressions. Intuitively, it was
easy to predict that they would be more difficult to destroy in the field when a malfunction would
occur. The first generations of energetics for Insensitive Munitions were less sensitive, but to a
point which still allowed standard explosive ordnance disposal methods to be applied without
great problems. However, the new generation of Insensitive Munitions is now able to withstand
stronger aggressions. One good example is the development of IMX-101 [1] which is able to
